The Muskie boys’ soccer team earned their first-ever trip to the all-Ontarios on Saturday after settling for the silver medal at NWOSSAA.
Despite losing 2-0 to St. Ignatius (Thunder Bay) to finish the three-team round-robin showdown with a 1-1 record, the Muskies advanced because NWOSSAA could send the top two teams to the provincials next week in Sturgeon Falls thanks to the Falcons’ silver medal at OFSAA last year.
“As a team, we’re very excited,” said Muskie co-coach Ben Andrusco.
The black-and-gold opened play with a 3-0 win over North Shore champion Manitouwadge on Saturday morning. Tyler Barker opened the scoring late in the first half before Jeremy Wilson and Barry Selin added insurance markers.
But after controlling play for the first 20 minutes, the Muskies gave up a goal to St. Ignatius’ Mike Sousa off a miscue on a throw in.
John Zussino scored for the Falcons in the second half.
The boys will begin play at the 16-team all-Ontarios next Tuesday. They’re looking to do some fundraising this week to help cover travel expenses.
Meanwhile, the Muskies girls fell short in their bid to qualify for the all-Ontarios—losing 4-0 to St. Ignatius to take home the NWOSSAA silver medal.
They had beaten host Manitouwadge 4-0 to open play Saturday on a pair of goals by Christin Thomson and Carling Barton.
NWOSSAA was only allowed to send one rep to OFSAA in the girls’ division.