Joey Payeur
One year later and hunting Jaguars still proved frustrating for the Muskie boys’ soccer team.
The black-and-gold were blanked 1-0 by the Jean Vanier Catholic High School Jaguars (Richmond Hill) earlier today in their opening game at the OFSAA ‘AA’ championships in North Bay.
The Jaguars, who rallied to nip Fort High 2-1 last year at OFSAA, made their goal five minutes into this morning’s contest stand up the rest of the way.
“They had a really nice goal but we settled down a lot after that and took it to them,” noted Muskie head coach Shane Beckett.
“We thought we had a penalty kick earned by Max Williams late in the first half but the referee waved it off,” he added.
“It would have been nice to bury one before halftime.”
Gavin Richardson went the distance in goal for the Muskies, who took on the Simcoe Composite School Sabres (Simcoe) in their second game today (the outcome was known as of press time).
The Muskies then will face the top-seeded Ascension of Our Lord Secondary School Eagles (Mississauga) tomorrow at 7 a.m. (CDT) before wrapping up Pool ‘A’ play at 11:30 a.m. against the Honourable W.C. Kennedy Collegiate Institute Clippers (Windsor).
In Wallaceburg, meanwhile, the Muskie girls also came out on the wrong end of their first game at the OFSAA ‘AA’ showdown with a 2-0 loss to the host Tartans.
“The girls played good but Wallaceburg came out really strong,” noted Muskie coach Alyssa Faragher.
The Tartans scored from in close in the 14th minute, with starting keeper Liz Allan getting a hand on the shot.
With round-robin halves only 30 minutes in length, the Muskies turned up the intensity in the second half looking for the equalizer.
But a defensive breakdown in the 42nd minute led to Wallaceburg converting a shot that beat Bryanna Dustin, who had taken over for Allan to start the second half.
“We had a good [scoring] chance late, and I have no idea how their defence scooped it away in time,” noted Faragher.
“I thought we had a goal, for sure.”
Fort High took on the St. Paul Secondary School Wolverines (Mississauga) this afternoon (the outcome was unknown as of press time).
Then they’ll face the fourth-ranked St. Mary’s College Knights (Sault Ste. Marie) tomorrow morning before wrapping up Pool ‘D’ play in the afternoon versus the Bayside Secondary School Red Devils (Quinte West).
The top two teams from each pool for both the girls’ and boys’ tournaments advance to the quarter-finals later tomorrow.
The semi-finals and final go Saturday.
