Lucas Punkari
After watching her team fail to find the back of the net, and not generating enough scoring chances, during a pair of NorWOSSA games here last Wednesday, Muskie girls’ soccer head coach Nicole Rogozinski knew she had to shake things up.
At a tournament in Kenora this past weekend, Rogozinski switched up the team’s formation from the 4-4-2 it used previously to a 4-5-1, which improved their previously-stagnate offensive attack.
“In our league games, we had a big hole in our midfield, so we moved one of our forwards back to fill that and now we are able to get the ball up from the defenders to our forwards,” she explained.
“We were also able to play our passing game to our advantage, and the girls [themselves] found it was a lot easier to play that way,” she added.
After a narrow 1-0 loss in penalty kicks to the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints (Kenora), and then a heart-breaking 1-0 setback in extra time to the host Broncos, the black-and-gold finished the weekend on a winning note Sunday afternoon with a 1-0 win over the Dryden Eagles.
Angela Cole notched the lone goal.
“The girls played a great game once again as they are starting to know how we want them to play out there,” Rogozinski noted.
“We were able to shoot a little bit more in that game than we had in our two previous losses, and I think that was the key difference.
“That is something we have been working on a lot here this week before our league games in Dryden on Wednesday [today] and I think that the day is going to be a good one,” she predicted.
The improved attack for the Muskies was a good sight to see after their first two league games here last week, when they played Dryden to a scoreless draw before falling 3-0 to Kenora.
Against the Eagles, the Muskies found themselves on their heels during the first half, with stellar goalkeeping from Nicole Horn allowing her team to stay in the contest.
Late in the affair, striker Allison Brown had a couple of scoring chances go narrowly wide of the net, which left the game scoreless as the final whistle blew.
“It was kind of a challenging game at first,” said Horn, who is in Grade 11.
“After a little bit, though, I think the girls all started to get into the game in the late part of the first half,” she added.
“And during the second half, it became a very intense game that both teams wanted equally.”
Despite a bit of a scare from the Muskies in the dying moments of the game, Eagles’ coach Gabe Mottlho was pleased with his team’s play, especially after they battled to a 1-1 draw versus Kenora later in the day.
“This is the first games for everyone here, so we really use this game to find out where we stand,” Mottlho explained.
“At this stage, all of the teams are at the same level, so I think this is like a test for every team before they make the adjustments that they need to make going forward,” he reasoned.
Horn was called upon yet again during the evening tilt with the Broncos. She made a number of key saves in the first half, and also had some help from her teammates as defender Emily Drouin headed a ball out of harm’s way.
Even though the Broncos’ attack was too strong for the Muskies in the second half, Rogozinski was quick to praise her keeper’s play.
“Nicole played great all day long,” she enthused.
“In the first game she was phenomenal for us, and for the most part she was fantastic in the second game of the day.”
Thanks to their 3-0 win over the Muskies, the Broncos took sole possession of first place in the NorWOSSA loop heading into today’s games in Dryden—much to the delight of head coach Janice England.
“The girls played a real strong game today [Wednesday],” she enthused.
“They were able to get the passing game working, which is something we have focused a lot on in practice.
“And once we got the pressure on net, we didn’t let up,” she added.
