Staff
The wide range of weather yesterday was a microcosm of the fortunes of the Muskie soccer teams on home turf.
Like the sunny start to the day, the six-time defending NorWOSSA champion Muskie boys shone bright in their season-openers with a 3-1 win over the Dryden Eagles and then a 2-0 shutout of the Kenora Broncos.
Nick Hahkala had an outstanding debut–notching a pair of goals versus Eagles’ keeper Dylan Winsor and then getting the game-winner past netminder Sutton Tresoor against the Broncos.
Cam Lidkea connected on a penalty kick to round out the scoring against Dryden.
Jacob Albright started between the pipes against the Eagles before giving way to Cole Kowalski, who allowed Adam West’s second-half marker that cut the Muskies’ lead to 2-1.
Kowalski then went the distance in blanking the Broncos, with Joey Angus cleaning up a loose ball after a Liam Metke free kick to provide the insurance marker.
As the day progressed, storm clouds rolled in and brought misery that mirrored the anguish of the Muskie girls’ team after a 4-1 loss to Dryden to kick off their regular season.
Tori Kelly scored twice for the Eagles in the final five minutes of the first half.
Hannah Zilkalns then tacked on two more in the second half against Muskie keeper Adyson Wilson-Hands.
Maggie Jean cranked a 25-yard bullet in the final 30 seconds to spoil the shutout bid of Eagles’ keeper Mandy Tourond.
But as the weather improved slightly in the late afternoon, so did the situation for the Muskie girls, who managed a 1-1 tie against Kenora in their second game.
Jamie Spencer blasted a 15-yard rocket 30 minutes into the first half past Kenora goalie Mica Wells.
Abbie Scheibler then broke through the Muskie defence to net the tying goal against keeper Carmen Godin late in the half, with the two teams trading chances but no more goals after halftime.
The three schools will meet again next Wednesday in Kenora for the second round of regular-season games.
In other Muskie news, the track-and-field team will be heading to different venues than the one originally planned to end their regular season.
Dryden cancelled both its “Spring Melt” meet set for this Saturday and the two-day Harry McMaster Classic later in this month due to the sudden resignation of Eagles’ head track-and-field coach Mike Wood.
Instead, Muskie coach John Dutton will take his squad to a meet in Virginia on May 9 and another in Hibbing on May 19.
The black-and-gold then will head to Thunder Bay on May 23-24 for the NWOSSAA championships.
