Muskie boys impressive despite losses

Despite finishing with just one win in three tries at the annual St. John’s Ravenscourt tournament in Winnipeg last weekend, the Muskie boys’ soccer team came away feeling they played well enough to advance to the playoff round.
The turning point came Saturday morning with a tough 3-2 loss to the Tec Voc Hornets in a game that had to be decided on penalty kicks.
Trailing 2-1 with just over five minutes to play, the Muskies tied the game in dramatic fashion when Steve Keesic headed in a beautiful cross-over from Terry LaBelle from the right side.
Neither team could score in the two five-minute overtime periods, despite each having a glorious opportunity, which set the stage for penalty kicks.
But the Muskies had trouble in the shootout, scoring just twice in four tries (Adam McTavish and Keesic tallied) while Tec Voc netted four goals on their five attempts to win the game.
The black-and-gold controlled most of the play for the first 10-15 minutes of the game, pressuring the Hornets, until Tec Voc got on the scoreboard first when they beat Muskie keeper Jordan Roy with a shot from about 25 yards out just under the crossbar.
That lead was short-lived as McTavish knotted the score just five minutes later. But then Tec Voc made it 2-1 when they scored on a penalty kick after the Muskies were called for a hand ball in the penalty area.
Still, the Muskies played well in the second half despite being down a goal, outplaying their Winnipeg counterparts.
“I felt it was a game where we recognized they had two or three highly-skilled players but I think we had more opportunities,” said head coach Keith Gilbert, adding the Muskies also missed a penalty kick during the game.
“We had more pressure on their keeper, who was a big guy, no doubt about it,” he recalled. “They had the momentum for the last 10 minutes of the first half but we had the majority of the pressure for the last 20-25 minutes of the game.”
In fact, Gilbert was confident the Muskies could come back and tie the game despite the fact Tec Voc had the momentum–and the lead–going into the second half.
“Absolutely,” he said. “I said to the kids at the half, ‘We had more opportunities and had controlled the ball well and had a number of chances. It was just going to be a matter of time,’” he stressed.
Despite the loss, the Muskies still had a shot at nailing down a playoff spot if they could beat a very talented Miles Macdonell team Saturday afternoon.
But it was not to be, coming out on the short end of a 5-1 loss to get bounced from further contention.
“Not looking for excuses but we were a pretty tired team and we didn’t play up to our potential,” reasoned Gilbert. “We just came out flat.
“Miles Macdonell, man-for-man, was a really good team that moved the ball well on the field,” he noted.
Still, the Muskies almost got on the scoreboard first when Colin Wielinga cracked a hard shot that nailed the post and bounced away.
But it was all Miles Macdonell after that, scoring three-straight first-half goals, then adding two more in the second half to make it 5-0.
Daniel Robinson netted the lone Muskie goal with about six minutes to go on a nice cross from Jeff Savage.
“They had us chasing the ball around the whole game,” said Gilbert. “They had some really good give-and-go’s, and their ball control was tremendous–they outskilled us.
“Jordan played a good game, he made a number of good saves,” he added.
The Muskies had opened the tournament Friday with an impressive 2-1 victory over Dakota Collegiate.
They played well despite arriving just minutes before game time because the team bus had broken down in Steinbach, where they had to wait more than two hours for another one.
Fort High got on the board first when LaBelle scored late in the first half. After Dakota tied the game early in the second half on a penalty kick, Savage made it 2-1 for the Muskies on a feed from McTavish, who made a great fake down the left wing and then crossed the ball over.
“We played really well with the exception of one setback around the penalty kick goal when we were flat but defensively the team played fantastic,” enthused Gilbert.
“They only had one or two shots on Jordan and one corner kick,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gilbert said he’s optimistic about his team’s chances this NorWOSSA season, adding he’ll get another good look at them when they host an exhibition tournament here this Friday and Saturday.
They open action Friday at 10 a.m. against Rainy River, then meet Thomas Aquinas (Kenora) at 2:30 p.m. On Saturday, they take on Beaver Brae (Kenora) at 9 a.m. and wrap up action against Sioux Lookout at 4:30 p.m.
“We played excellent for the first time together,” said Gilbert. “We really played well and it was encouraging to see the results and the fact we played some excellent soccer.
“Their play impressed us, and we got a chance to see who fits in where,” he noted.