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.

There was a quiet crowd at the Dryden Memorial Arena on Sunday, March 7 after the Eagles lost their second straight game to the Fort Frances Muskies for the NorWOSSA gold medal.
The Eagles gave the Muskies a run for their money at home in Fort Frances on Friday, March 5; a game that needed overtime for the Muskies to win the game 5-4.
The Eagles found themselves trailing the Muskies on three separate occassions and managed to come back to tie the game and send it to the extra period.
Ryan Lobreau added two goals while Jared Stratford and Blair Dingwall added a goal apiece for the Eagles.
Coach Jamie Oltsher says the boys kept their “never say die” attitude and an unlucky break in overtime cost them the game.
“We had several golden opportunities late in the third to break the tie but sometimes the puck just doesn’t bounce your way and putting the finish on the game is tough.”
The Muskies managed to score the overtime winner on a partial breakaway to take round one of the series.
“Our message to the boys before OT was to keep up the hard forecheck and to minimize their mistakes. It was unfortunate that Fort Frances captalized on such a small error…but hey, that’s hockey.”
Round two was a different story as the Eagles couldn’t solve the Muskies’ goaltending, failing to score in the 60 minutes.
The Muskies were up 1-0 after the first period and the Eagles just couldn’t capitilize on their chance and eventually lost round two with a 3-0 decision.
The Muskies scored twice on the powerplay and sealed the deal with an empty-netter in the last minute of the game to earn their trip to OFSAA.
Oltsher says the drive from Friday just wasn’t there on Sunday but they didn’t give up.
“Their goalie played well but we didn’t test him often enough. Our forecheck wasn’t as good as it was on Friday and Fort Frances seemed to play a better defensive game this afternoon.
Despite this, our guyes didn’t give up and they left it all on the ice. The coaching staff is very proud of our team and would like to congratulate them on a very successful season despite finishing in second place.

The DHS Eagles girls’ hockey team are going into game #3 of their three-game semifinal against the Thomas Aquinas Saints.

The Eagles put away the Saints in round one with a convincing 5-1 win. The Saints came back with a vengeance, earning a 3-1 win over the Eagles, giving them their third loss of the season.

Action starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Dryden Memorial Arena.

On the boys side, the Eagles ousted the Broncos in two straight games to earn their spot in the NorWOSSA final against the Fort Frances Muskies.

The boys down the Broncos 6-2 in Kenora on Friday, Feb. 26 in a come from behind win. The boys held off on Sunday, Feb. 28 to beat the Broncos 2-1.

The team is in Fort Frances on Friday, March 5 for round one against the Muskies. They’re back in Dryden Sunday, March 7 for game two.

Five goals in the third period sent the Eagles soaring past the Muskies in their final home game on Feb. 16.

The girls were down 1-0 in the first period but with just seconds left on the clock, Morgan Church buried her first the night to tie the game.

Not much action in the second period. The Eagles put up their second of the night from Kyley Engstrom but the Muskies responded before the end of the second.

It was all action in the third period. The Muskies started with a goal four minutes in. The Eagles responded with two goals in nine seconds from Church and Alex Wesley. Lauren Shoguchi netted her goal with six and a half minutes left before the Muskies again brought themselves up with another beautiful one-timer.

With the Muskies within two in the last minute of play, the Eagles pushed on scoring twice in less than 30 seconds from Wesley and Engstrom for the 7-4 win.

Breanna Brown earned the win in net.

Final game of the regular season for the Eagles will be in Fort Frances on Feb. 23.

The Eagles came up with a huge win last night at home against the undefeated Fort Frances Muskies.

The boys were 2-0 before the Muskies came back and added three unanswered goals. Jeff Kropelin would tie the game but the Muskies responded with a fourth goal.

Matt Bartlett tied the game with just 47 seconds left before the two headed to a 4-on-4 period.

Ethan Egli would score his third of the game and game winning goal to break the Muskies perfect record.