Colony boys seeded first, girls second for region championship

PALMER — The Colony Knights defeated the Palmer Moose 6-1 at Colony High Friday evening.

Junior Peyton Johnstone scored four times to lead the Knights to victory.

And it didn’t take long. Johnstone ran down a through ball in the first minute and beat Palmer keeper Desi Molina to score the first goal of the game in the second minute.

Shortly after that, Johnstone challenged Molina again, and with the keep drawn away from the goal, the Lady Knight redirected the ball and found the back of the net again.

The Moose were down, but not out. After Johnstone’s second goal, the Moose took seven straight shots. But Johnstone again found an opening and raced down the field toward the Palmer goal. In their haste to defend the goal, the Moose accidentally tapped the ball into the net, tallying a third goal for the Knights, technically by Johnstone.

But the goal fueled Palmer’s fire, and sophomore Avery Parker was able to snatch the ball away from her opponents deep in Knight territory. Parker hustled to the net and scored in the 28th minute, bringing the score 3-1.

Unfortunately for the Moose, that was the last of their goals. The Palmer defense deflected a ball away from their net, only to have it launched into the net on a header from Colony’s Natalie Nordland.

Parker was in goal for Palmer for the second quarter.

“It was a good 25 minutes of soccer from us and we had the majority of the possession other than the fact that (Colony) scored 4 (of) the first 5 times down the field,” said Palmer head coach Harmony Chadwick, via text on Saturday. “Colony capitalized on their opportunities and we did not.”

While the story of the first half was the Colony offense, the Colony defense stole the show in the second half. Colony allowed just one shot on goal, and it wasn’t until late in the second half that Parker was able to approach the goal, sending a shot wide of the net.

Johnstone and sophomore Brice Pavlicek each scored two more goals for Colony before the end of the game.

Freshman Maddy Zmuda was in goal for the first half and her classmate, Beth McCullough, recorded the second-half shutout.

“Our movement was huge,” said Colony assistant coach Yvonne Brooke. “We were finally moving to the ball instead of standing and waiting for it.”

Head coach Lorie Miner said the Knights also did a good job of looking for outside open channels and making clean passes.

“We spent this week working on being patient, our first touches, and our passing lanes to prepare for (Saturday’s) game against Wasilla,” Miner said.

Colony boys 9, Palmer 0

The Colony boys’ soccer team defeated Palmer 9-0 Friday night with Junior Cameron Shaw’s hat trick and Zack Zmuda’s shutout in goal.

Colony found the back of the net with seven of their 17 shots in the first half. Freshman Cade Johnstone started the frenzy with a header, after Palmer keeper Elliot Price had turned the Knights’ first three chances away. Shaw was powerful and precise, racing toward the goal and scoring twice in a row for the Knights. Junior Ben Sande got in on the action, too, tallying one goal before Shaw scored another. Sande then added his second goal, and senior Austin Richardson scored after having been denied by the crossbar just minutes earlier.

The Knights’ youth found success as well, as sophomore Dawson King scored just before the end of the half, bringing the Colony goal count to 7.

Zmuda only had to handle the ball once in the first half.

Palmer was able to manufacture some opportunities in the second half, but to no avail. Kohei Wantanabe attempted a goal from the right wing, but Zmuda shut down the shot. The Moose earned a corner kick and tested Zmuda again, but were once again disappointed.

Freshman Gio Ramos rallied the ninth and final goal for Colony.

Wasilla girls 5, Colony 2

PALMER — The Lady Knights lost to the Warriors 5-2 at home Saturday, seeding them second in the north half of the region.

Ally Hull led Wasilla’s scoring with three goals. Alexa Star and Teyonnah Williams also contributed goals.

Wasilla head coach Patrick O’Neill said Defensive players Lindsey Cisek, Alia Donley and Emily Rushing provided strong defense for the Warriors.

Colony boys 6, Wasilla 1

PALMER — The Knights defeated the Warriors 6-1 at home Saturday, winning them the top seed in the north half of the region.

Cameron Shaw scored twice, Ben Sande scored three times, and Jake Forstner scored once.

Contact Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.