The Muskie girls’ soccer team looks at each tournament they go to as a test.
And while the Muskies passed their latest test in Dryden with flying colours last weekend, head coach Struchan Gilson is hopeful they’ll keep up those high marks up there again later this week.
“I think we have a very good team and we’re playing the way I want them to play,” Gilson said after his team finished with a 3-0 record against the host Eagles, Rainy River, and St. Thomas Aquinas (Kenora) at a NorWOSSA exhibition tournament in Dryden last weekend.
“We’re getting better and better.”
The Muskies will face what should be a strong Beaver Brae lineup tomorrow at another exhibition tournament in Dryden. They’ll meet Red Lake later in the day, then will battle Sioux Lookout on Friday afternoon.
And the black-and-gold don’t have much time to get where they want in terms of playing together. The NorWOSSA playoffs begin a week from today in Kenora, and it will be the Muskies’ last game action until they host the all-Ontarios on May 31-June 3.
That’s because the Muskies, having an automatic berth as the host squad, won’t by vying for the NWOSSAA crown if they win NorWOSSA.
“We’ll have no trouble getting up for NorWOSSA,” said Gilson. “We won’t be competing for NWOSSAA so we’ll have a week-and-a-half break.”
Gilson said he’ll try to fill that void with an alumni game in order to keep his team in shape.
The Muskies, coming off a 1-1-1 performance at a tournament in Winnipeg the week before, were dominant in Dryden, outscoring their opponents 12-2. They never trailed in any of the three games, and often controlled the territorial play.
Gilson said his team was “moving the ball well” and looked comfortable setting up plays. “We were getting the ball out to the wings and then making beautiful plays,” he noted.
The Muskies began their strong play right from the opening whistle against the host Eagles last Friday morning. Laureen Cousineau scored twice while Christine Thomson, Sarah Vanderplaats, and Susie Grynol each added singles in the 5-1 romp.
Dryden, which is fielding a young team this year, scored their lone goal in the final minutes of the game.
“We were absolutely dominant, it was a complete game from one end to the other,” said Gilson. “We were dominant in all facets of the game.”
The Muskies then beat Rainy River 3-1 in a game in which the black-and-gold scored three quick goals and then held on for the win, appearing to have trouble with the Owls’ “kick-and-chase” style of play at times.
“They [Rainy River] don’t do anything, they break out with long kicks,” said Gilson. “It was difficult on us with 10 kids in the . . . six-yard box.”
Cousineau scored twice while Thomson added a single in that one.
Gilson said the Rainy River game showed just how well conditioned his team is while playing in the humid conditions. And he felt that could help them over the rest of the season.
The black-and-gold then capped off the strong weekend with a near-perfect 4-0 win over Thomas Aquinas Saints. They once again controlled most of the game, and had the bulk of good, quality scoring chances.
Thomson netted a pair (including one on a penalty kick) while Cousineau and Natalie Whalen, on a beautiful shot to the top corner of the net, also tallied.