Colony boys up, girls and Palmer teams down

KENAI — With such a freshmen-heavy squad this year, Kenai boys soccer coach Joel Reemstma has had to figure out the best way to build a winning team on the field each and every game.

Whatever he’s been doing, it’s been working.

The Kardinals claimed their first home win of the year with a 4-0 victory Friday evening over Northern Lights Conference opponent Palmer at Ed Hollier Field in Kenai, which improved their season mark to 5-3-1.

Friday, starting freshman Zack Tuttle scored twice to lift Kenai to the win. Tuttle was joined on the scorecard by senior captain Austin McKee and senior Nate Saavedra.

“I don’t take any opponent lightly,” Tuttle said after the game. “I just get out here and try and move the ball around. Try and get it in the net.”

Tuttle highlighted efficient passing and ball movement as reasons for the Kardinals success with a young team this season, a strength that he backed up on the field with his opening goal in the 11th minute. Tuttle collected the ball on the left side of the field from fellow freshman Luke Beiser just a moment after breaking free from two Palmer defenders and raced toward the Moose’s goal, chipping a perfectly laid shot over the Palmer goalkeeper for a 1-0 Kenai lead.

“Could’ve had a better finish,” Tuttle said lightheartedly. “But it was nice to get a goal early.”

Tuttle added a second goal in the second half, putting together a similar drive in the 68th minute to score and increase Kenai’s lead to 3-0.

McKee put in his goal in the 25th minute of the first half to give Kenai a 2-0 lead. McKee caught a nice through ball just past the Palmer defensive line and beat the goalie to the ball to add the tally. Saavedra scored his first goal of the year for Kenai in the final minute of regulation after toughing out much of the game with an ankle injury.

In between, the Kards had several more moments of close calls that could have been goals. Eleven minutes into the second half, Tuttle sent another threatening chip shot toward the goal but was denied by the crossbar, and two minutes later, McKee nearly converted a corner kick by Jake Eubank into a goal with a header that went sailing over the crossbar.

Senior captain and goalie Wren Norwood earned the shutout for Kenai, saving three shots by Palmer’s attacking line, including a shot in the 70th minute which he lost in the frenzy in front of the net. Luckily, Eubank was standing at the right goalpost and kept the ball from going in.

Shortly after that, Norwood was substituted in goal by sophomore Tristan Landry, who got his first-ever varsity minutes in net for Kenai.

Overall, Kenai outshot Palmer 17-4.

Kenai girls 5, Palmer 0

Two goals from senior Heidi Perkins buoyed the Kardinals to a shutout victory over the Moose on Friday afternoon in Kenai. The Kardinals improve to 7-1-1 for the year.

Lara Creighton, Hannah Drury and Cori Holmes each scored a goal a piece to help Kenai win. Junior Alli Steinbeck claimed the shutout in goal for the Kards, facing just two shots all game. On offense, Kenai peppered Palmer with 21 shots.

Perkins said she thought Kenai featured an improved ground game against Palmer, moving away from booting the ball into the air. With teammates such as Kylie Morse and Creighton back, Perkins said the flow of the game came more naturally.

Perkins opened the scoring with a goal before the first two minutes were up. In the 29th minute, Perkins had another opportunity to score when she fired a corner kick into a cluster of Kenai attackers and Palmer defenders stationed in the goal box. The ball was knocked around a few times but ultimately was kicked back out toward midfield.

Drury tallied her goal with less than three minutes left in the first half, receiving a cross from Holmes from the left corner that she successfully converted to put Kenai up 2-0.

At the second-half whistle, the Kards charged out of the gates hard, notching five shots on goal in the first 10 minutes. One of those shots was successful, as Creighton scored four minutes after halftime for a 3-0 Kenai lead.

Perkins’ second goal, in the 67th minute, boosted Kenai’s lead to 4-0. After a Palmer player fouled Creighton just on the edge of the box, Perkins directed the free kick toward the goal as soon as she could, once the ball was placed, catching the defense off guard.

Four minutes later, Kenai was given a penalty kick after a Palmer foul in the box, and Holmes successfully converted the kick with a powerful strike.

Kenai girls 2, Colony 0

Heidi Perkins scored twice as the host Kardinals notched an NLC victory over the Knights on Saturday.

Kenai is now 8-1-1 overall.

In the first 10 minutes of the game, Perkins got the ball at midfield and beat multiple defenders before finishing.

Then, near the end of the first half, Kylie Morse had a free kick from 50 yards out. Colony left an opening at 30 yards out, and Morse found Perkins there.

Kenai coach Dan Verkuilen said Colony did a good job building the attack on the outside, and said Peyton Johnstone had several attempts on goal. Johnstone had one bender to the far post that Alli Steinbeck totally laid out to save.

Verkuilen said Morse did a great job breaking up attacks at sweeper, and Cori Holmes did nice work at forward and midfield.

But he said everybody, even the JV swingers he used, contributed to the wins.

Colony boys 3, Kenai 2

The defending state champion Knights got a pair of goals from Ben Sande in moving to 14-3-2.

“It’s unlikely this will matter for region seeding,” Reemtsma said after falling to 5-4-1. “What we wanted to do is show that we belong and I think we did that.”

Sande struck first with a penalty kick in the 12th minute. Then eight minutes into the second half, Colony went up 2-0 on a nice shot from about 25 yards out.

“It was a seesaw game,” Reemtsma said. “They had the edge in chances and we didn’t possess the ball real well. They’re clever with their runs and one-touch play.”

In the 60th minute, Kevin Ramos crossed to Zack Tuttle for a goal. Reemtsma said Tuttle did a nice job elevating for the top-shelf header.

Then 10 minutes later, Austin McKee found Tuttle with a diagonal through ball and he tied the game with a volley.

But just as against Soldotna on Monday, the Kards were not able to preserve the tie. With about two minutes left, Sande headed in a free kick from about 30 minutes out.

Reemtsma said the free kick was similar to the one SoHi scored on to win Monday, except his squad did a better job marking.

Reemtsma said the defense, particularly Max Dye, was good at disrupting the Colony attack, especially by getting up and heading the ball in the air.

Soldotna girls 8, Palmer 1

The host Stars moved to 9-0 by notching the NLC victory over the Moose.

Soldotna had a 5-0 lead just 11 minutes into the game.

The goals came when Makenna Rosin scored directly off a corner kick, Alyssa Wolfe scored on an assist from Miranda Wolfe, Reagan Schoessler scored on assists from Miranda Wolfe and Taryn McCubbins, Miranda Wolfe scored on an assist from Alex Ashe, and Abi Tuttle scored on assists from Schoessler and Miranda Wolfe.

The Stars would then score three more times before the end of the first half. Taylor Wilson scored with help from Miranda Wolfe and Bailey Rosin, Wilson finished a corner from Makenna Rosin, and Brianna Bennett scored from Tuttle.

At the 11-minute mark, Love started shuffling players to different positions, and by the second half, the Stars only had two starters — goalie Maddie Kindred and one central defender — on the field.

While Love was happy with the quick scores, he still thinks his squad could come out and play better passing soccer. He also said the Stars could do better at finishing crosses.

Soldotna boys 2, Palmer 0

The Stars moved to 8-2 overall with the NLC victory over the Moose.

Ty Fenton made his presence felt after missing the Colony game Friday with a leg injury.

In the 38th minute, he scored in a scrum in front of the goal.

“In this case, you could say he had a nose for the goal,” Byerley said. “The ball smashed off the front of his face and into the goal.”

Fenton then assisted a Bailey Jones goal in the 53rd minute to complete the scoring.

Cameron Knowlton had the shutout in net for the Stars.