The Dryden Heat scored on a penalty kick with about 10 minutes to play to nip the Fort Frances Selects men’s travel team 2-1 in the final of a soccer tournament there over the weekend.
Mike Webb put the Selects up 1-0 with a goal midway through the first half but Dryden fought back to tie the score, setting the stage for the controversial ending where the host squad was awarded a penalty kick.
And they took full advantage of it, beating Selects’ keeper Jason Kabel for the eventual game-winner.
It was the second-straight loss the Selects suffered at the hands of the Heat in the tournament. They also dropped a 3-1 decision on Saturday.
Olaf Ruppenstein scored the lone Selects goal in that game.
The Selects opened the tournament on an impressive note with a pair of 4-0 shutouts over Horst Lang Construction and JP’s Roadhouse (both of Dryden).
Thor Ruppenstein scored a pair of goals in the first game, including one on a penalty kick, while Paul Danku and Webb netted the other two.
Webb (two), Olaf Ruppenstein, and Daniel Ribeiro were the goal scorers in the win over JP’s Roadhouse.
After losing to the Heat to finish in second place in their pool, the Selects faced the Kenora Rangers, the top team in the other pool, in the semi-finals. But the locals were up to the challenge, dumping the Rangers 3-1 on goals by Thor Ruppenstein, Ribeiro, and Trevor Hyatt.
In other soccer news, the women’s Borderland travel team also came up just short last weekend, losing 3-0 to the Thunder Bay Rattlers in the ‘B’-final of a seven-team tournament in Kenora.
They opened with a 1-0 victory over Kenora United when Melissa Armstrong netted the game-winner with just seconds to play when she headed in a pass off from Karma Chudobiak.
Caylee Brow recorded the shutout between the pipes.
But the locals were relegated to the ‘B’-side with a 3-0 loss to the Kenora Dynos later in the day, and then were blanked by the Rattlers on Sunday morning.
Caroline Spencer, a player/coach with the team, said they had trouble handling the “offside trap” in both losses. She also said it took a while to get used to playing with new teammates for the first time.
Teams from Kenora, Dryden, and Thunder Bay also competed in the tournament.
The women’s travel team is now looking at the possibility of going to to a tournament in Dryden, and then will host one along with the men Aug. 7-9.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
