A big field, some warm weather, and a small number of players greeted fans of soccer last week.
The Muenster Cougars senior boys' soccer team hosted the Three Lakes Avengers in a seven-on-seven game on September 27. The two teams are playing in the Horizon School Division Senior Boys Soccer League, which features seven-on-seven teams and 11-on-11 teams playing an interlocking schedule.
Muenster has declared as a seven-on-seven team, while Three Lakes is an 11-on-11 team.
The game started out slowly, as the teams developed a feel for the large playing field.
"That was a tough game for us," said Dawn Cleveland, the Three Lakes coach. "We're not used to playing seven-on-seven and it took us a while to get into the game."
Despite Cleveland's words, the Avengers scored first and scored twice more in the first half before Muenster replied.
Three Lake's second goal came on a penalty shot after Muenster was called for interference in the 18-yard box. The Cougar keeper got a hand on the ball, but couldn't keep it out of the net.
The Cougars' first goal came on a corner kick, when their opponents gave them several tries at scoring before they put it home.
The first half passed with the Avengers dominating much of the game by being first to the ball and using their passing to open up the play.
Muenster had several chances to score in the first half, but couldn't finish.
The final score of the game was 5-3 in favour of the visiting team.
Three Lakes has 18 players between Grades 9 and 12 this year, Cleveland noted.
"We have some strong Grade 12s and we have some strong younger players coming up," she said.
The team, with a record of 4-2 so far in the season, isn't playing any tournaments, Cleveland noted.
"We are working on team building, on working more as a team," she said.
Both teams played well in the game, said Muenster coach Marvin Renneberg.
"Middle Lake adjusted well to the seven-on-seven game," he said. "It's a more wide open game."
Muenster only had eight players at the game, so they struggled some with the more open field.
"We really need to be in shape for seven-on-seven," Renneberg said. "Right now we have a couple of players who run all game, but we need everyone to do that."
Muenster is having a fairly good season so far this year, sitting at about .500 in the standings, he noted.
"We're competitive is all our games so far," Renneberg said. "Right now, we're struggling because of numbers. It's hard when you only have seven or eight players show up because of harvest."
League playoffs start in the third week of October.
