The Eagles boys’ soccer team rallied back from two 2-0 deficits to take the NorWOSSA gold medal on Wednesday, May 25 in front of the home crowd.
The boys fell behind the Beaver Brae Broncos in the semi-finals but rallied back to score four goals in ten minutes, including a hat trick from Daniel Arndt, to take the game 4-3.
They squared off against the Fort Frances Muskies in the final, again falling to a 2-0 deficit before a huge mistake by the Muskies’ goaltender allowed rookie player Cody Kaus to open the scoring for the Eagles.
Moments later, Matt Bartlett tied the game and the two teams stayed in a deadlock through overtime into penalty shots.
Daimon Wesley scored the winning goal in PKs while first time goaltender Zach Lake made an outstanding save to push the Eagles to a gold medal.
Coach Conor Doherty says the boys didn’t get down on themselves and that first goal against the Muskies really boosted their confidence.
“Everybody all of a sudden started believing that we could really do it and no more than 10 minutes later, Bartlett put a corner kick in off his head. It was just the belief that we could come back and still win.
It was a very calm mood at the halftime huddle, nobody was hanging their heads, everybody was focused on what I was saying and I could see it on their faces that they weren’t worried.”
It took six shooters to beat the Muskies in penalty shots and earn their first NorWOSSA title since 2005.
It’s a first for every member of the team and they savoured the moment in front of family and friends.
“It feels great to finally win NorWOSSA again and it’s great for our older guys in their fourth and fifth years who haven’t won NorWOSSA in soccer before.
Like I said in the huddle at the end of the game, at the beginning of the year, I pointed up to board and showed them 2005 was the last time they’d won NorWOSSA so that was our goal from the beginning of the season to put a new number up on the board at the gym.”
Although the boys lost all their previous games to the Muskies, some stats to think about:
•In the match-up on May 5, the Eagles out-passed the Muskies 103-45
•In the match-up on May 9, the Eagles out-passed the Muskies 133-27
•On May 12, the Eagles out-passed the Muskies 114-40
•On May 19, they out-passed them 98-89.
The boys will start their OFSAA journey June 3 in Windsor, ON.
Check www.drydenobserver.ca for updates as the team makes their way through the tournament.

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.”

The Eagles girls’ soccer team secured their first place finish in the NorWOSSA standings with two wins on the Kenora fields today (Wednesday).

The girls tied both the Beaver Brae Broncos and the Fort Frances Muskies 1-1. Lauren Shoguchi added the first goal in game one and Haylee Whitney earned the Eagles lone goal against the Muskies.

The boys earned two losses today, meaning they will be squaring off in the semi-final next Wednesday. They fell 2-1 to the Broncos and 3-1 to the Muskies.

Ritchie Callewart scored his fourth of the season against the Broncos and Matt Bartlett planted his first of the season against the Muskies.

All NorWOSSA finals will take place in Dryden on Wednesday, May 26. Times and results to follow.

The Eagles girls’ and boys’ teams earned their first regular season wins this morning against the Beaver Brae Broncos.

The boys opened the scoring early with a goal from Blair Dingwall and Ritchie Callewart added two quick goals of his own in the second half to take the game 3-2.

The Broncos scored first in the girls’ game but the team responded with a quick goal from Lauren Shoguchi. Shoguchi took the lead with a penalty shot minutes before the end of the game. The Eagles took it 2-1.

Both teams are back on the field at the soccer complex at 3:30 p.m. where they will take on the Fort Frances Muskies.

The girls side of the ‘AA’ NorWOSSA division is looking pretty even all around as the Eagles’ girls soccer team finished the season opener with two ties.
The girls faced off against the Fort Frances Muskies in Fort Frances on May 5, earning a shut out but were shut down by the Muskies in the 0-0 tie.
Coach Carlos Raposo says it wasn’t the outcome they were looking for but the girls put in a great effort.
“With our inexperience, we made a couple of errors that we hope to correct this week  but overall, it was good.”
The girls didn’t fair much better in their afternoon game against the Beaver Brae Broncos, finishing in another tie, this time one goal a piece.
Midfielder, Halle Lobreau, opened the scoring in the first half with a high shot to the top left corner, over the hands of the Muskie keeper.
The girls protected their end as much as they could but the Broncos tied the game at one with just minutes remaining in the second half.
Raposo says that the girls have a lot to work on but with the season being so short, it’s hard to develop  well in such a short period of time.
“We don’t coach long enough to show all the stuff. Our season is so short that we’re just scraping the surface of the basics of soccer.”
Raposo adds that committing to practice and watching soccer on t.v. or watching the senior leagues will help brinßg up their level in the next few weeks.
“I see some really good soccer coming from them. They’re really young and they’ve got a bit of concept of what the game is all about. It’s just a matter of pushing it to the next level.”
The girls are back on the field at home in Dryden on May 12 against the Muskies and the Broncos, looking to improve their record.
Results were unavailable at press time. Check www.drydenobserver.ca for updates and next week’s print edition of The Dryden Observer for full results and photos.

The Eagles’ boys soccer team opened the 2010 season with two losses in Fort Frances on May 5.
The team took on the Fort Frances Muskies in their first match of the year, falling 2-1.
Coach Connor Doherty says a big key to their success will be finishing up front.
“We need to move more balls into the penalty area, more though balls and crosses to create more chances for the strikers.”
Daniel Arndt earned the lone goal for the Eagles but a penalty shot awarded to the Muskies made it a 2-1 game.
The boys hit the field again for their second match of the season against the Beaver Brae Broncos, where they fell 3-1.
Grant Valiquette put the Eagles on the score board but it wasn’t enough to keep the Broncos at bay as they scored three times for the win.
Doherty says although the team lost, the score doesn’t reflect the flow of the game.
“We are not a 1-5 team. Our record is not indicative of how we play. We’ve been the best team in every game but we just didn’t get the result we wanted.”
The team also participated in a high school tournament in Kenora over the weekend, earning a win and three losses.
Doherty adds that again, the Eagles dominated the play but was unable to finish and as a result, didn’t see the scores they wanted to.
The boys are back in action in Dryden on May 12 against the Muskies and the Broncos for round two of the NorWOSSA season.
Results of the May 12 matches were unavailable at press time. Check www.drydenobserver.ca for updates and next week’s print edition of The Dryden Observer for full details and photos.