The Eagles boys’ soccer team couldn’t pull off a win last Wednesday in Kenora but they’re confident they can change that going into NorWOSSA on Wednesday, May 26.
The boys faced off against the Kenora Beaver Brae Broncos on May 19 in Kenora, falling 2-1 due to a lack of communication at the back end of the field.
“They got an early goal because of a miscommunication in our penalty area. Then at the start of the second half, Kenora went up 2-0 because of a weak play from our defense not clearing the ball,” says Coach Conor Doherty.
The team fought back, earning a goal late in the second half but couldn’t find the equalizer. Doherty adds that he’s proud of the way the team fought back and played in the majority of the game.
The team faced a similar situation against the Fort Frances Muskies, falling 3-1 due to some mistakes in their own end.
“We had a very crucial mistake in the first minute of the game. One of our defenders decided to let the ball bounce instead of trying to head the ball, their forward got a touch on it and went up and scored and it wasn’t even a minute into the game. That put us behind the eight ball very quickly.”
The team fought back with Matt Bartlett earning a goal before the end of the half and the two teams were tied going into the second half of the game.
The teams pushed hard until the last 10 minutes when the miscommunication continued at the back end and resulted in another Muskie goal.
Doherty says that he takes responsibility for the miscommunications on the back line by not having the right combination of players to defend. He adds that the line will be changed up and the problem will be fixed before going into Wednesday’s semi-final.
“We have a lot of confidence going into the semi-final against Kenora. I think we’re a better team than Kenora and we’ve proven it in all three games. Our mistakes have really cost us against them but we have dominated every single game against them possession-wise and chance-wise. I very much believe it’s going to come together against them on Wednesday.”