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 earned their first win of the season against the Beaver Brae Broncos on Wednesday, May 12.
Blair Dingwall scored early in the game and Ritchie Callewart added to of his own to move ahead of the Broncos 3-1 going into the second half. Kenora added one more just before the final whistle but the Eagles held them off for the win.
Coach Conor Doherty says the team dominated the game and got the chances they needed up front.
“We dominated possession of the ball and we gave our strikers more opportunities in the other team’s penalty area.”
The game against the Fort Frances Muskies was a different story as the boys fell 4-1. The Muskies scored three goals before Callewart added his third of the day to close the gap to two goals. It wasn’t enough, however, as the Muskies added their fourth, sending the boys to third place.
Doherty says the boys were discouraged from the beginning and need to step up their game if they want to bring down the Muskies.
“We came out flat and we didn’t respond to the energy and the effort that they were putting forth. We sat back and let them jump on us and we didn’t push back.”
Doherty adds that the Muskies’ goaltender made two outstanding saves to secure their lead and the team was discouraged by the two goals they scored early and the team didn’t respond.
The boys will have to refocus for their third and final regular season games against the Muskies and Broncos in Kenora on Wednesday, May 19. The team can’t catch Fort Frances for first place so they will be playing in the semi-final on May 26 in Dryden.
Doherty says the boys will need to really step up their game on?Wednesday if they want to get a win against the Muskies.
“We need to put forth a better effort, we need to communicate better, stay positive throughout the game and be patient and wait for our chances to happen.”
He adds that the older players are going to have to step up and take control of the team to keep them focused throughout the game.
Results were unavailable at press time. Check www.drydenobserver.ca for results and check next week’s print edition of The Dryden Observer for full details.

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 Eagles girls’ hockey team is showing southern Ontario how the Northwest plays hockey.

The girls are 2-0 after their first two round robin games.

Game one was a walk in the park for the team as they faced off against Smooth Rock Falls. Alexis Reid and Alex Wesley earned two goals apiece while Morgan Church, Halle Lobreau, Kylie Engstrom and Kristen Bartlett added their names to the score sheet with one each in the 8-0 win.

Game two was much closer as the girls faced off against Carleton Place. The girls earned a 4-1 win with goals from Bartlett, Engstrom and Wesley.

Goaltender Breanna Brown faced nine shots in total for both games.

The girls need a tie or a win against Ridley in the morning to move on to the quarter finals. Check back Wednesday afternoon for a full update.

The Ice Dogs trailed behind the Fort Frances Lakers for most of the game but managed to net the winning goal in OT and take round #1 in the best-of-seven semifinal match-up in a 4-3 decision.

The Lakers opened the scoring seven minutes in but Chad Liley would tie the game in the last minute of the first period.

The Lakers would again take the lead halfway through the second but the Ice Dogs would respond less than a minute later with a goal from Justin Lightfoot.

The Lakers scored their third of the night three minutes into the third but the Ice Dogs would again tie the game less than a minute later with a beautiful goal from Ben McClellan.

The game headed to overtime and with just 1 min 25 seconds left on the clock, Ben McClellan netted his second of the night.

The Ice Dogs and the Lakers will face off again in round #2 on Friday, March 19.

In other SIJHL news, the Fort William North Stars beat out the Sioux Lookout Flyers 5-2 in their second game of the best-of-seven semifinal. The North Stars lead that series 2-0.

The Dryden Eagles Senior girls’ volleyball team is 1-0 in the round robin action at OFSAA this morning.
The team beat out Don Bosco High School from Etobicoke in two sets, 25-7, 25-11.
The girls are back on the court at 12:30 a.m. central time to take on the host team, Perth.
Check back throughout the day for all OFSAA volleyball scores.