Muskies one shot away from OFSAA return

Rick Chambers had a distinct message for his troops after they were dealt a season-ending blow.
“They were headed to a barbecue Saturday night and I told them don’t drown your sorrows, but cheer your year,” the head coach of the Muskie boys’ soccer team said after they narrowly lost a 3-2 penalty kick shootout here Saturday to the favoured St. Ignatius Falcons (Thunder Bay) in the deciding game of the NWOSSAA showdown.
“We should have won it in regulation with the chances we had, which makes me happy,” Chambers added. “I think we were actually the stronger team.
“But we lost a lot of legs against Manitouwadge [in a 4-3 overtime victory over the Wolverines on Saturday morning] and it’s hard to kick the ball with tired legs.”
For Muskie striker Jeremy Wilson, his last high school game will stick in his mind as one that didn’t lack for desire, though it lacked the desired result.
“In terms of effort, we did the best we could,” said an emotional Wilson, who dazzled Manitouwadge with a hat trick performance that included the game-winner in overtime, but who was one of three Muskie shooters to be denied in the shootout against the Falcons.
“The guys in the background, like Tyler Barker, Bryan Chambers, Andrew Curr and the rest, kept us in it all year,” he noted. “Me and [fellow striker Matt Basaraba] would be nothing without those guys.”
A closely-contested first half saw the Muskies use a 4-4-2 defensive formation to hold the potent St. Ignatius attack in check, with only Wilson and Basaraba making any consistent forays into the offensive zone.
In a game where the only goals came directly or indirectly from penalty kicks, St. Ignatius caught the first break at the 37-minute mark when Muskie Rick Ricard was flagged for bringing down the Falcons’ Gustavo Argueta in Fort High’s 18-yard box.
Chris Sousa blasted his penalty try off the crossbar above diving Muskie goalie Dan Poperechny, but the ball ricocheted straight back to Sousa, who ripped the rebound high over the downed Fort High keeper for a 1-0 lead.
The second half saw the Muskies switch to a 3-5-3 attack—moving an extra striker up the field to try and generate scoring chances.
For most of the half, though, the only thing being generated by the Muskies was frustration, as they followed a couple of non-calls against the Falcons by the referee with some infractions of their own that led to whistles and a heated exchange between Chambers and the ref.
“I never like to badger the referee but when the calls go against us, you have to try and get some calls for your team,” reasoned Chambers. “I looked at him and said ‘25-1?’ [numbers of calls going against the Muskies].
“We went out and got a few calls after that.”
One of those calls came in the dying seconds to miraculously postpone the Muskies’ funeral march.
A free kick from near midfield for Fort Frances ended up bouncing around crazily in the Falcons’ 18-yard box and eventually grazed the hand of St. Ignatius defender Dave Tallori, who instantly and painfully was aware of his miscue.
With the season on the line, Basaraba tried to defer to his senior cohort, but Wilson was having none of it.
“Matt looked at me and said, ‘This is yours, it’s your last year,’ but I said no,” recounted Wilson. “I knew it was going in before he even kicked it.”
Basaraba reaffirmed Wilson’s faith in him by ripping a shot low to the right-hand corner, breathing new life into the Muskies and their excited faithful populating the bleachers.
Scoring chances were few for both sides in the two 10-minute overtime halves.
But Poperechny bailed the Muskies out with four minutes left in the second session after a Falcons’ shot deflected off Ricard and then was punched wide by the keeper, who flew head-long through the air to extend his team’s season a little longer.
The Muskies began the shootout, with Basaraba striking paydirt again for a 1-0 advantage. But Mike Ianni tied it, then after Bryan Chambers’ chance just went wide of the right post, Nick Persichino hammered the ball into the top right corner for a 2-1 Falcons’ lead.
Wilson then was stopped cold by St. Ignatius goalie Matt Iorianni, who guessed right on Wilson’s left-footed shot and knocked the ball wide with his hand.
But Poperechny came up big again as he recovered in time to get a piece of Sousa’s shot to where he had just been standing.
Chris Faragher successfully executed Sousa’s strategy. As Iorianni fell away to one side, Faragher popped the ball straight to the middle of the cage to tie the shootout.
Andrew Fernandez would play the eventual hero, though, as his offspeed shot found the left side of the net behind Poperechny.
Curr had the chance to send the shootout to sudden death, but his attempt to the low right-hand side fluttered wide—sending the Falcons to the all-Ontarios in Timmins this weekend.
“I’m disappointed, but even with us making it to OFSAA last year, this season was the best by far,” said Wilson, who along with Poperechny and Vern Pham will be the only players lost to the squad through graduation.
“That’s just because of the guys here. They just made you want to play hard, and play as a team,” he added.
Saturday morning’s contest against Manitouwadge, representing the North Shore of Superior, seemed to unfold according to plan when Wilson headed a cross into the middle past goalie Trevor Puumala in the 15th minute.
But the Wolverines, considered the longshots coming into the NWOSSAA tourney, struck twice in five minutes later in the half as Jesse Tugwood and Brook Newton gave Manitouwadge a shocking 2-1 lead at the break.
Scott Bridgeman’s header with Puumala caught out of the net evened the contest in the 50th minute. But 10 minutes later, Eric Escarte’s header after a great run and cross by his brother, Neil, put the Wolverines back in front, and put Wilson temporarily on the bench.
“That goal was the direct result of Jeremy giving the ball to their defence because he wouldn’t trap and control the ball,” noted Chambers, who felt sorry for lighting into his striker at the time, but got the response he was looking for.
“He went back in and did beautifully. That was the key to our comeback,” Chambers added.
Wilson headed in a Basaraba cross at the left side of the 18-yard box in the 70th minute to tie the game, and then started and finished the play in overtime to give the Muskies the narrow victory.
His corner kick seven minutes into the first overtime went off a Manitouwadge defender’s head and straight up into the air.
The ball bounced around the box, and with Barker shielding the onrushing Wolverines’ defender, Wilson stepped into a rocket from about 10 yards out that Puumala had no chance on.
Later Saturday, St. Ignatius dumped Manitouwadge 9-0 to set up the final winner-take-all match against the Muskies.