Joey Payeur
Jess Caul was thrust into the OFSAA cauldron but confidently declared herself unscathed in the end despite her team not reaching its stated goal.
The former Muskie female athlete-of-the-year was pressed into service as the lone coach to guide the Muskie girls’ soccer team through the all-Ontario ‘AA’ championship in North Bay last week.
Regular head coach Sarah Faragher could not travel due to health reasons related to being pregnant with her third child.
That left it up to Caul to take the helm, where she watched the three-time defending NorWOSSA champs go 0-4 in Pool ‘B’ play to miss the playoff round.
“I believe the girls played well given the level of competition brought on by the other teams,” noted Caul, whose team was outscored 15-4 in its four games.
“They didn’t give up, which is something I always admire, especially when you’re down by a few goals,” she added.
Caul said it wasn’t necessarily about upping their level of play by too much but rather more about their mental toughness.
“That is something that every athlete needs to learn and the girls did well with what they had,” she reasoned.
Fort High, which was ranked second in Pool ‘B,’ opened play Thursday morning against the third-seeded Holy Trinity Tigers (Bradford West Gwillimbury) and lost 2-0 to the eventual bronze-medal winners.
“In our first game, I think the girls were nervous going in,” Caul noted.
“And then it didn’t help that the team we were playing had phenomenal footwork.
“So their two goals happened in the first half, but we had a talk during halftime about a different strategy and things to improve on, and we held them off from getting any further goals on us,” she added.
“So that was a win for us.”
Muskie captain and midfielder Claire Hyatt echoed her coach’s thoughts.
“Holy Trinity passed it all around us right at the start,” agreed team captain and midfielder Claire Hyatt, one of nine Muskies who played their final high school games at OFSAA.
“I don’t think Erin [Tomalty] and I touched the ball that game,” she marvelled.
Next up that afternoon were the fifth-ranked Richview Saints (Etobicoke), who earned a 3-1 victory.
Richview scored first but the Muskies tied it later in the first half when Maggie Jean reeled in a cross into the 18-yard box, danced around the Saints’ keeper, and tapped it into the empty net.
But the Saints reclaimed the lead with two goals before halftime, then went into defensive lockdown mode the entire second half to stifle any Muskie rally.
“We should have been able to win that one,” said Caul.
“But our shots just weren’t going in and the girls were very tired because it was extremely hot and they only had about an hour-and-a-half in between those two games.
“I think that was their first big test of their mental toughness,” she noted.
With no room for error, the Muskies imploded against the Bishop Macdonell Celtics (Guelph), the 2014 OFSAA champs and top-ranked team in Pool ‘B,’ by surrendering six goals in the first half on the way to a 7-0 shutout Friday morning.
Hyatt said the score masked the real story.
“They were not better than us,” she stressed. “At the beginning, we were passing all around them.
“Then they snuck two goals in and one of them went off my butt . . . then our mental game dropped off.”
Bryanna Dustin, who played the first two games, was pulled in favour of Moriah Carradice after allowing the third Celtics’ goal.
But Bishop Macdonell didn’t let up and had Caul searching for answers as she spoke to the team at halftime.
“Basically, the girls struggled to play their game against a team that capitalized on their opportunities,” she remarked.
“We had some breakdowns in different areas of the field [but] we managed to get that together in the second half and they only scored one goal that half.”
That change in fortune had Hyatt perplexed.
“We were a little disappointed in ourselves,” she admitted. “How do you go from 6-0 in the first [half] to just 1-0 in the second?”
Caul then went with a fresh strategy before the Muskies’ final game Friday afternoon against the fourth-ranked Saint Paul Patriots (Niagara Falls), talking with her team before the game instead of at the break.
The Patriots scored first but Hyatt tied it by crushing a shot from near midfield midway through the first half that caught Saint Paul’s keeper too far out of her net.
A late first-half goal by the Patriots made it 2-1.
They widened the lead to two goals before Jessica Steele booted one home from in close.
The Muskies then had their chances to tie it but couldn’t net the equalizer.
“That was probably the best game the girls played all season,” lauded Caul.
“They worked hard and worked together, they played with heart and passion, and they had fun.
“We had nine seniors on the team this year and knowing that they wouldn’t be playing together again, they made it a good finish and fought hard,” she added.
“The other girls on the team wanted it for them, too, so that was nice to see.”
Hyatt, Tomalty, Jean, Carradice, Sydney Radigan, Myla Angus, Jessica Baxter, Ashley Croswell, and Jenny Hammond all are graduating from the Muskie program and Caul said they will be sorely missed.
“I was lucky enough to play soccer with some of those girls in high school and even in women’s league, so I know that each and every one of those girls has such a good heart,” she noted.
“They have a passion for soccer and that is such a beautiful thing,” she added.
“They have contributed to the soccer program in tremendous ways, on and off the field, and I am sure the school is grateful for their contributions.
“As someone outside of the education system, I have loved watching them grow as people and athletes during their time as a Muskie soccer player,” Caul said.
For Hyatt, the final record wasn’t what she wants to dwell on as she leaves her Muskie career behind.
“I was so glad to have the opportunity to go to OFSAA and I know from missing going in basketball that some athletes don’t get that chance,” she remarked.
“We improved throughout the week of OFSAA . . . I wish it wasn’t over,” Hyatt added.
“I’ve got to get on with my life, though, even if I don’t want to.”
