Lucas Punkari
They’ve been the team to beat in NorWOSSA for the last three years, and the Muskie boys’ soccer team showed why once again in Dryden last Wednesday.
With a 2-1 win over the Kenora Broncos, the black-and-gold came away with their third-straight league title and earned the chance to compete at the OFSAA ‘AA’ championships in Stratford starting tomorrow (June 6).
“This just shows you the dedication that the kids have,” said Muskie head coach Shane Beckett.
“They get involved in the summer and work together on the same team during the off-season, and those things show when it comes to the season itself,” he explained.
“When the guys get out onto the field, they have already had about 16 or so games under their belts, and that just shows the hard work the guys all put in.”
After finishing in first place during the regular season to earn a bye straight to the NorWOSSA final, the Muskies took control of the match right from the very start as they gave the Broncos very little to work with.
“In the first half, I think we just dominated with the ball for most of the time and we were in their zone a lot,” noted Grade 12 striker Cam Gobeil.
“We kept our head up there throughout the match, as well, and I think that helped,” added Grade 11 striker Tyler Ruppenstein.
The black-and-gold jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the latter stages of the first half on a beautiful strike from Gobeil—on a play that was nearly identical to a highly-praised goal that Manchester United striker Robin Van Persie scored in the English Premier League this season.
“Lucas [Koomans] gave the ball to ‘Sinc’ [Brandon Sinclair], and he made a nice long ball pass from about 30 yards out,” Gobeil recalled.
“The ball dropped in around the 18-yard box, and I was just volleyed it and it beat the keeper,” he explained.
Kenora had a chance to tie the game on a penalty kick just before halftime, but Kodai Kuroda’s attempt went wide of the net—much to the relief of Muskie keeper Ben Whitburn.
“I was just hoping that he missed,” the Grade 10 student joked.
“I was thinking of going to the left to stop it, but his shot ended up going well to the right,” he added.
The Muskies made it 2-0 early in the second half when Ruppenstein found the back of the net after his initial shot was turned aside.
“The first chance I had didn’t go in, but you just have to keep your head up and try again,” he stressed.
“On the second chance I had, I saw the ball come to my feet and no one else was there to take a shot, so I just went for it.”
Although the Muskies were in control for most of the second half, the Broncos spoiled Whitburn’s shutout bid with about 15 minutes to go when Kuroda made amends for his earlier penalty miss by blasting a shot into the top corner of the net.
“He’s been a huge addition for us this year, and you can’t ask for a better guy to be on your team,” Broncos’ head coach Greg Fair said of Kuroda, who is an exchange student from Japan.
“He listens well and he’s obviously a very skilled player, and I hope he enjoyed playing with us because we really enjoyed having him on our team,” Fair added.
Kuroda’s goal was as close as the Broncos would get, however, as they had to watch from across the pitch as the Muskies hoisted the NorWOSSA trophy once again.
“The guys never gave up and you can’t ask for much more than that,” Fair said.
“We had some chances and we made some adjustments that worked well for us after we were a little bit more defensive in the first half,” he noted.
“But I’m very happy with how the guys played today.”
The second-place Broncos advanced to the final after prevailing 4-3 in a wild semi-final affair against the host Dryden Eagles earlier in the day.
“That was a game where I felt like I needed a defibrillator,” Fair joked.
“The scoreline looked more like a baseball game, but the guys worked hard and they never gave up once again after they fell behind early,” he stressed.
Jordan Spencer led the Broncos with a pair of goals, with Cory Zilinski and Joel Arseneault also scoring.
Cody Kaus, Richie Callewaert, and Nick Skillen replied for the Eagles, who entered the playoffs at the bottom of the league standings but almost pulled off the upset.
“We were up for most of the game, but at the end there our legs just fell apart,” said Eagles’ head coach Carlos Raposo.
“We lost a little bit of our focus after we got in front there, but the boys played well for the most part.
“Unfortunately, we let them come back,” he sighed.
After hitting the road yesterday afternoon, the Muskies are set to open action tomorrow at 9 a.m. (EDT) against the St. Martin Mustangs of Mississauga.
The black-gold then will take on the Denis O’Connor Chargers (Ajax) tomorrow afternoon before going up against the Holy Trinity Tigers (Bradford) and the Wellington Heights Wolverines (Mount Forest) on Friday to wrap up their round-robin schedule.
The playoffs quarter-finals will take place later Friday, with the semi-finals and final set for Saturday.
With the experience of finally winning a game at the all-Ontarios under their belts following last year’s trip to North Bay, the Muskie boys’ are hoping to make it into the playoff round this time around.
“We just have to outwork the other teams,” Ruppenstein reasoned.
“We do a really good job of that when we are pressuring really high up the field,” he noted.
“And we have a big bench, so we can roll in our subs when we get tired out there.”
