Joey Payeur
They scored at will during the NorWOSSA regular season and playoffs.
But while there was a will, the Muskie boys’ soccer team could not find the breakthrough they were looking for against the best in the province.
Fort High, which was seeded fourth in Pool ‘C’ going into the OFSAA ‘AA’ championship last week in Kingsville, ended up going 0-4.
They bulged the twine just once in four games after scoring 38 times in seven NorWOSSA contests.
“It’s bittersweet,” said first-year head coach Chris Sinclair, who took over for Shane Beckett at the start of the season.
“It’s hard to swallow losing all four [games],” he added.
“But in the grand scheme of things, we can take something away from the losses that will help us next season.”
Last year’s 2-2 finish in pool play, the best-ever by the Muskies at OFSAA, had the reigning six-time NorWOSSA champs charged up about its chances of finishing in the top two in its pool and making the quarter-finals for the first time.
But Pool ‘C’ turned out to be the OFSAA equivalent of the notorious “Group of Death” discussed every four years when the World Cup rolls around.
In their opener Thursday morning, Fort High had to face the top-ranked Saint Andre Bessette Bulldogs (London), who wound up advancing to the gold-medal final before losing in double overtime to the Corpus Christi Longhorns (Halton).
The Muskies spent the first half getting the jitters out, and allowed goals to Lucas Capretz in the first half and Dante Lindo in the second to succumb 2-0.
“SAB had two good strikers and they moved the ball well, and you could tell they went undefeated in their league,” noted Sinclair, who then went with back-up keeper Justin Angus in the Muskies’ second game that afternoon after starting Cole Kowalski in the opener.
Angus got a rough ride in his OFSAA baptism from the third-seeded Glendale Bears (Hamilton), who fired a trio of shots past the rookie in the first half before Kowalski played the second half of the eventual 4-1 loss.
Maceo Harrison netted a pair of goals for the Bears while Shae Wolfe and Ermal Karasniqi added singles.
“I’m not putting the blame on [Angus],” stressed Sinclair.
“The first one was from far out, but a nice shot, and on the second, we made a soft play trying to pass it back to [Angus], but it didn’t make it to him and they chipped it by him and scored,” he added.
“Then Ian scored on a nice rush up the middle on a give-and-go with Kevin [Metke], where he chipped it past their goalkeeper,” noted Sinclair.
“But when they got that third one, there was some deflation on our part.”
Kowalski was back between the pipes for a must-win clash Friday morning with the fifth-ranked St. Michael Mustangs (Kemptville).
After a scoreless first half, Kowalski came out to challenge on a corner kick, won the ball, and kicked it to the wing where the Mustangs intercepted.
He then slipped and fell trying to scurry back to the net and St. Michael converted a far-side cross into the open net.
A late insurance goal nailed down a 2-0 win for the Mustangs and meant the end of the playoff hunt for Fort High.
“That first goal was an odd play,” said Sinclair.
With the playoffs out of reach, the Muskies went into their final pool game Friday afternoon against the second-seeded Ascension Eagles (Mississauga) feeling no pressure.
While a better performance emerged, they didn’t receive any offensive benefits for their troubles—falling 2-0 for the third time in the four games.
It didn’t help that the first goal, coming past the midway point of the first half, was mired in controversy.
“It was a kick from them from just outside the 18-yard box,” Sinclair recalled.
“The guy shot it and the whistle went, and so Cole didn’t move,” he noted. “But the ball went in and they allowed it.
“The ref wouldn’t even talk to me why they blew the whistle,” Sinclair added. “But I wasn’t going to change his mind.”
Sinclair said he was surprised his team couldn’t fill the net more but that it wasn’t from a lack of trying.
He added the veterans on the team, who have laced up their cleats for the last time with the Muskies, can be especially proud of what they’ve accomplished over the years.
“To win the NorWOSSA gold each and every year says so much about their personality and their character,” lauded Sinclair, referring to starters Jodoin, Metke, Max Williams, Adam Stromberg, and Caleb Koomans, as well as bench players Cam Gushulak and Tyler VanUden.
“I can’t thank them enough.”
Sinclair said defender Liam Metke and striker Joey Angus might join that list, although both reportedly are toying with the idea of coming back for a “victory lap” like Williams did this season.
Even so, next year’s version of the Muskies will be a little more wet behind the ears than in recent seasons.
But Sinclair preferred to view that situation as several doors of opportunity opening rather than Fort High’s championship window closing.
“We’ll have a lot of kids who will see a lot more playing time in different roles,” he remarked.
“It was a good experience for them to learn throughout the season and even moreso in Kingsville,” he noted.
