Coaches expect balance in NLC tourney

Frontiersman

MAT-SU — The Colony Knights may be heading into the Northern Lights Conference Championships girls soccer tournament as the North Division’s second seed, but as far as the Colony coaches are concerned, there’s no reason why the Knights should leave the tournament as conference champs.

“If they close their eyes, they can feel the weight of that medal around their neck,” Colony assistant coach Ed Powell said. “They’re focused now.”

To grab on to that first-place medal, Colony will have to get by the third seed from the South Division, Homer, when the tournament opens on Thursday, and find a way to score another win before the event closes on Saturday afternoon.

Colony head coach Lorie Miner said he Knights certainly have the ability to post at least a pair of wins over the weekend and score one of the conference’s three berths to the ASAA state tourney. Most of all, Miner would like for the four players in her senior class — Tara Murray, Alex Coon, Brandi Day and Kara Larson — to be recognized as conference champions for the first time in their prep soccer careers.

“We feel with this caliber of girls we have, that opportunity is there this year,” Miner said.

There’s also no hands-down favorite, Miner said. The top teams in the North, Colony and Wasilla, finished the regular season locked at 3-0-1 in NLC North play. Soldotna and Kenai lead the South with identical 4-0-1 marks.

“There’s nobody for us to be afraid of,” Miner said. “There’s no one dominate team out there.”

The Wasilla Warriors, who open tourney play against Nikiski at 11 a.m. on Thursday at Palmer High school, ended the regular season with a 1-1 tie against Colony. Wasilla’s 1-0 win over Soldotna two weeks ago ended up breaking the first-place tie with Colony. That tie coupled with Soldotna’s 2-1 win over CHS, gave Wasilla the North’s top seed.

First-year Wasilla head coach Amber Craig is excited about the work of her team, especially the play in Wasilla’s defensive third.

Wasilla, 9-0-3 overall this season, allowed goals in just four of its 12 games. Prior to its 1-1 tie agianst Colony, the Warriors had gone eight straight without allowing a goal.

The key for the Warriors during the region tourney, Craig said, is simply popping a few more shots in the opponent’s net.

“We’re still missing that main piece of being able to finish,” Craig said. “That’s one thing we’ll be working on the next couple of practices before regions.”

Leading the Warriors in the quest for more goals are the likes of junior Rachel Kennedy, and sophomores Amy Jo Coonrod and Kendra Miner.

Palmer (5-6-0, 2-2-0) capped its regular season with a 3-0 win over Grace Christian. That win gave Palmer the third seed and the right to host the second-seeded team from the South, Kenai, Thursday at 3 p.m.

Palmer head coach Brian Fish is also pleased about where his team is at this point of the season.

“I think we’re coming togther more as a team,” Fish said. “We’re healthy. I think we have just as much chance as everyone else.”

Leading Palmer into the tourney are seniors Tess Anderson, Krysta Theisen and Juliana Mangelsdorf.

Grace Christian is the fourth-seed from the North and will play top-seeded Soldotna at 1 p.m. at Colony High.

Palmer High is the host of the 2009 tourney and will feature all of the action during the final two days of the tourney. First-round games will be played at Palmer and Colony.

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