Muskies regret missed chances at OFSAA

The Muskie boys’ soccer team experienced a familiar problem earlier this week at the all-Ontarios in St. Catharines—putting the ball in the net.
The black-and-gold managed just two goals in their four round-robin games (two games per day on both Monday and Tuesday) enroute to a 0-3-1 record that left them out of the playoff round.
The Muskies had been seeded second in the 20-team field going into the competition.
Both Muskie goals came in their final game Tuesday (a 2-2 draw against the Bayridge Blazers of Kingston) and head coach Shane Beckett was frustrated by his team’s continued inability to get on the scoresheet.
“It’s the age-old problem that we have—being able to penetrate the 18 yard box and put the ball in the net,” Beckett said of the Muskies’ scoring woes.
“We had a couple of close chances but we couldn’t capitalize.”
Beckett’s frustrations were echoed by team captains Chad Faragher and Tyson Quibell, who both thought the Muskies competed well but couldn’t capitalize on their scoring chances for a variety of reasons.
“I think we just needed to finish a bit more—just take the shot and not deke around the defenders,” said Faragher. “We were bunching in the 18 [yard box].”
“I thought we competed well,” Quibell added. “There was never really another team that showed they were better than us. We just couldn’t capitalize on opportunities.”
While the lack of scoring definitely was a source of frustration for all involved, the Muskies took a number of positives from the experience—foremost being the fact the team was competitive at the next level.
“It’s very obvious that our program deserves to be playing at this level,” Beckett said. “We played some good soccer teams, but at no point were we outclassed and at no point were we not in a game.”
Quibell said the experience gained by the young Muskie squad this season should help Fort High’s soccer program to greater success down the road.
“They see that we can definitely play with these guys down here and there’s nothing for them to be afraid of,” Quibell said of the players who’ll be returning to the Muskies next season.
“We can keep up and we can definitely take it to them. So when they come in here next year, they’ll have a lot more confidence,” he noted.
The positives gleaned from the group’s OFSAA experience were not confined to the playing field. Beckett was as proud of the way his team handled themselves off the field as he was of their play on it.
“I was really proud of how they held themselves and carried themselves for the tournament,” he said.
“Our guys were really classy on and off the field,” he added. “I had comments from other coaches about the type of sportsmanship and the type of team we were.”
The Muskies had opened play Monday morning with a 2-0 loss to the Cardinal Carter Cougars (Leamington). Fort High started the game slowly—undoubtedly feeling the effects of the 19-hour bus ride to St. Catharines.
The Cougars pressed their advantage and it wasn’t long before they capitalized, scoring the game’s first goal.
But the goal sparked the black-and-gold into action and the Muskies carried the play during the middle third of the 60-minute game.
Still, the Cougars took advantage of their two quality strikers to double their lead in the second half and seal the 2-0 victory.
After the game, Beckett credited the Cougars’ forwards for their strong play.
“They had a couple of strikers that really made our guys work,” he noted. “They were, for sure, the strongest ones we’ve seen so far this year.”
The Muskies had just an hour to regroup between their opening defeat and their second round-robin game against the Nicholson Crusaders (Belleville).
Once again, the Muskies came out flat.
Sensing his team might be susceptible to another early goal, Beckett changed the team’s formation to include five mid-fielders.
That subtle shift in strategy seemed to energize his squad as the Muskies controlled play for the rest of the half but were unable to get on the scoreboard.
Unfortunately, Fort High’s promising first-half play did not carry over to the start of the second half.
With several of his starters resting on the bench at the outset of the second half, Beckett watched helplessly as the Crusaders worked the ball down the field to score what would be the game’s only goal.
He said Fort High had several quality chances to even the score late in the second half, but seemed to press too much in the offensive end.
“When we’re in the offensive third, we start to lose our shape and our composure, and guys are just trying to swing,” he explained. “We get bunched up and it’s easy to defend when you have five guys all standing within 10 yards of the ball.”
The 1-0 loss to the Crusaders dropped the Muskies to 0-2 and put the team in a big hole heading into Day Two of the all-Ontarios.
Fort High played like a team desperate for a win early Tuesday morning against the Wellington Heights Wolverines (Mount Forest). They completely dominated play, moving the ball around well and generating several quality scoring opportunities.
However, as was the case in their first two games, the Muskies could not solve their opponent’s defence to score the goal they so desperately needed.
While the Muskies could not score, the Wolverines took advantage of a mistake by rookie keeper Thomas Edwards late in the first half to put them up 1-0.
“It was kind of a rookie mistake,” Beckett said of the play. “He [Edwards] should have punched the ball but he palmed it instead and it got hung up in the air.
“It bounced around funny on a cross and they played it in the net.”
The miscue was all the Wolverines would need as the black-and-gold failed to score for the third-straight game in losing 1-0.
Sporting an 0-3 record, the Muskies went into their final round-robin game last Tuesday morning against the Bayridge Blazers firmly in the role of spoiler.
The Blazers needed a victory over the Muskies to qualify for the quarter-finals later that day.
With the pressure off, Fort High came out relaxed and looked dominant on the pitch.
“It was the best game we had of the tournament,” Beckett said. “It was too bad they saved it right to the end, but it was good to end on a high note.”
Kevin Plett scored the goal Fort High so desperately had been seeking on a free kick from well out—sailing it over the Blazers’ keeper and into the net.
The Blazers then committed a foul in the box early in the second half and the referee pointed to the penalty spot.
Quibell stepped to the spot confidently and slotted the ball past the Blazers’ keeper to increase the Muskie advantage to 2-0.
But the Blazers stormed back late in the game—scoring two goals in the final 10 minutes against reserve goalie Jordan York, who was seeing his first game action since the Muskies’ exhibition games in Winnipeg more than a month ago.
The Blazers were unable to complete the comeback, though, and the game ended in a 2-2 draw.
(Fort Frances Times)