Joey Payeur
Instead of shuffling their feet dejectedly after a rough morning, the Muskie girls’ soccer team chose to kick up their heels and collect a hard-fought point in the afternoon.
Fort High didn’t get an enjoyable start to the NorWOSSA regular season with a 4-1 loss to the Dryden Eagles here last Wednesday morning.
But the squad showed some character in shrugging off the defeat and holding the Kenora Broncos to a 1-1 draw that afternoon.
The spark to light the Muskies’ fire against the Broncos actually came with 30 seconds left in the Dryden game, when Maggie Jean rocketed a 25-yard shot past Eagles’ goalie Mandy Tourond to break the goose egg.
“I think Maggie’s goal at the end of the Eagles’ game was crucial for a few reasons,” said Muskie co-coach Sara Roach.
“First, it gave the girls back a little bit of confidence and proved we can be competitive with the Eagles,” she remarked.
“Also, ending that game on a high note helped the girls enter the Kenora game on a positive foot.”
The Muskies actually were deadlocked in a scoreless tie with the more experienced Eagles through 35 minutes before stumbling through the last five minutes of the first half.
A corner kick by Tori Kelly accidentally went off the hands of keeper Adyson Wilson-Hands and into the net to put Dryden in front.
Then in the 39th minute, Kelly stepped into a 25-yard blast that sailed over Wilson-Hands and into the top of the net for a 2-0 lead.
“Once Dryden scored their first goal, I think the girls lost some of the confidence they had built up in the pre-season,” Roach mused.
“We couldn’t get anything started offensively and this caused some frustration on the pitch,” she admitted.
“As a team, we are working on staying calm, even when getting behind by a few goals.
“This was the first time many these girls have played at this level of competition and I believe that they learned a lot from that game,” Roach added.
Hannah Zilkalns added a pair of goals in the second half.
The first came when she waltzed in uncontested to bury a rebound after Wilson-Hands–normally the team’s leader on defence but forced into keeper duties with the absence of Carmen Godin for the game–had made a diving stop on an initial shot.
“In the game against Dryden, our defensive line played really hard,” Roach insisted.
“The Eagles had many scoring opportunities and eventually we got wore down.
“We allowed too many opportunities from the inside of the pitch,” she added. “We are really focusing on pushing the opponents to the outside of the field.
“Playing a stopper-sweeper defence in coming games will help with this problem.
The Muskies and Broncos also were scoreless until 30 minutes in when Jamie Spencer got hold of the ball from 15 yards out and sent a cannon shot past Broncos’ keeper Mica Wells.
With Grade 12 veteran striker Abby Sanders (knee) and midfielder Jess Steele (foot) likely done for the season, rookies like Spencer will be counted on to supply valuable offensive support.
“We are confident in many of our younger players on the pitch,” said Roach.
“We have many talented rookies on our team and they are improving with every game,” she lauded.
“With a couple of our key players injured, our younger players are really stepping up to the plate, including Jamie with a goal against Kenora and a goal in our pre-season.”
But with less than two minutes left in the first half, Abbie Scheibler carved a path between two Muskie pursuers and broke in on Godin before pounding the ball to the far side of the net for the equalizer.
Both teams had their chances in the second half–the best coming when Sadie McCallum was awarded a penalty kick after Godin rammed into her in a race for a loose ball at the top of the Muskies’ 18-yard box.
Roach was buoyed by the turnaround in her team’s overall play.
“In the Kenora game, we had many opportunities come out of the midfield,” she noted.
“Our strikers had a lot more scoring opportunities.
“Defensively, we changed our positioning and this helped us keep their strikers out of the middle of the pitch, giving them less scoring opportunities,” she added.
The Muskies will see plenty of Kenora over the next four days, starting today when they resume NorWOSSA action there against both the Broncos and Eagles.
Then the squad will take part in the seven-team Broncos Challenge Cup tournament this Friday and Saturday.
