They’re rivals on the field, but a pair of combined soccer squads from the Borderland Soccer Association put their differences aside to prosper at a tournament in Dryden this past weekend.
The Taggs/Nova men’s team went undefeated to capture the men’s title, while the Fort Frances “Money”, a mixed Curves/Gillons’ team which also included Taggs’ member Megan Canfield, picked up the silver medal in the women’s portion of the draw.
Taggs/Nova went 3-0 in the round robin to finish atop their pool, whitewashing Pickle Lake 11-0 and the Dryden Falcons 3-0, with a 2-1 squeaker over the Dryden Heat sandwiched in between.
The local crew then hooked up in the semifinal with the Borderland league’s other squad, Gillons’, who finished second in their pool with a 1-1-1 record after beating Kenora Celtic 4-0, losing 1-0 to the Dryden Drillers and playing to a 0-0 draw with Dryden United.
A last-minute goal by Olaf Ruppenstein was the difference, as Taggs/Nova nipped Gillons’ 2-1 to move on to the final against the Drillers.
Another hard-fought battle resulted in Taggs/Nova pulling off the 3-2 victory over the host side to take the championship. Gillons’ also ended their visit with a win, getting past the Heat 3-2 in the third-place game.
Other goal scorers were unavailable at press time.
The “Money” was spending and shooting wisely in the round robin, shutting out the Dryden Breezers 5-0 and Dryden Benfica 1-0.
In the semifinals, Fort Frances again got the better of Benfica in a 2-0 victory. But the squad let their title shot slip through their fingers, as they loss to Kenora 2-0 in the final.
Two members of Taggs also played on the Dryden Steelheads side, which went 1-2 in the tourney and failed to make the semifinals.
The Steelheads downed Sioux Lookout 2-0, but were upended by Kenora and the Dryden Breezers by similar 3-1 scores.
Goal scorers for all the women’s games were unavailable at press time.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
