Boys prep soccer: Gettin' Ziggy with it; Palmer freshman leads Moose to first win of season

April 27, 2007

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

PALMER - For about the first 240 minutes of their season, the Palmer Moose stared at one giant goose egg. With 10 minutes to go in its third game, Palmer had yet to score a goal.

And then the Moose got Ziggy with it.

With seven minutes remaining in regulation, Zach &#8220Ziggy” Zegydryn put a header into the net to give the Moose a 1-0 win over the Colony Knights, their first victory of the season.

&#8220I'm just so happy right now,” an elated Zegydryn said after the win.

&#8220It just feels so great to score,” the freshman said. &#8220At least we're on the scoreboard now. We used to have 0's across the board.”

Senior Jerry Melin set up the freshman's score, putting a shot off the crossbar of the Colony net. Melin's shot bounced off the crossbar, and right to Zegydryn, who was standing directly in front of the goal.

&#8220Crashing the net, and being able to get on it,” Palmer's first-year head coach Kevin Dearborn said of the play. &#8220After two games with no goals, we spent a lot of time practicing scoring goals.”

Colony head coach Jeremy Johnson said the all-Valley affair was a fairly evenly played match, but while Palmer was able to capitalize on an opportunity, Colony could not.

&#8220We had the ball in their box - a lot of corner kicks and throw ins - but we never got on the end of any of them,” Johnson said. &#8220We're having a little trouble finding the back of the net right now.”

While Zegydryn, Melin and freshman Brennan Bohman supplied much of the pressure on offense, Palmer also used a stellar defensive effort from a cast of players led by senior Haakan Bohman and junior Andy Gardner.

Palmer goalkeeper Vinney Salls earned the shutout, and has only allowed one goal since Palmer's 4-0 loss to Wasilla in the first game of the season.

Palmer improved to 1-2-0 with the win, while Colony dropped to 2-2-0.

The Moose are back on the field today, facing Nikiski at Colony High School at noon.

The Knights host Skyview on Saturday at noon.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.