Colony hosts first prep soccer games of season

PALMER — The Colony soccer program added an extra piece of equipment to the required list of gear for spring practice.

A snow shovel.

And the extra work allowed the Knights to host the first varsity games of the prep season in the state on March 23. Also, most likely, it’s the earliest in a season that a school has hosted an official prep soccer game outdoors ever in Alaska.

The Colony girls and boys hosted East Anchorage Thursday on the turf at Colony High that the Knights had spent several days clearing.

“It’s funny, we’re starting one week earlier, but this year is the worst year we’ve had since we’ve had the turf,” longtime Colony soccer coach Jeremy Johnson said of the winter snowfall. “With the snow and ice, we had to work really hard to get it ready.”

In the past when the Valley was home to only grass fields, local squads would have to wait until late April, at best, or early May to host games. Once turf fields were installed in the Valley in 2012, area high schools could host games as early as early April. The turf fields can be cleared earlier in the year, without the risk of the damage that could occur on the grass fields.

Johnson, a 1991 graduate of Palmer High School who began his tenure as a Colony head coach in 1995, said he can’t recall a team in Alaska ever hosting an outdoors prep soccer game earlier than March 23.

Even with the turf fields, the Knights would typically open its season in late March against a nonconference opponent at The Dome, and indoor facility in Anchorage, and wait until at least the first week of April to host matches. But earlier this year, the roof of The Dome collapsed under a heavy load of snow. With the availably of The Dome, Anchorage high school soccer programs would begin their seasons indoors in mid-March and move outdoors when they were ready. But with The Dome now closed until further notice, the Anchorage coaches are scrambling to reschedule games, Johnson said.

That opened the door for Colony to host games.

“All the Anchorage schools want to play us,” Johnson said.

So the Knights got to work.

Johnson said the Knights could have hosted matches as early as March 18, but had to wait until the chunks of ice scattered across the turf field began to melt. The wind had blown a lot of the snow off the turf, but there was still the ice. Those clearing the ice also had to work carefully enough not to damage the turf. Thursday, on some areas of the field there was still ice within about two feet of the sidelines, but it was good enough to host the matches.

“We barely got it (done in time),” Johnson said. “We cleared as much as we could.”

The work created the opportunity to host nine varsity nonconference games for the girls and boys before the Knights begin their Northern Lights Conference season on April 11 at Houston.

The Knights also opened the season with a pair of wins Thursday.

Gabby Wakaliuk scored four goals in a 4-2 win over East Anchorage.

“She’s really fast. She’s able to get behind the defense well,” Johnson said. “We sent some through balls, and she did really well getting behind the defense. She finishes well. She seems like a natural goal scorer.”

Noah Krozel used a hat trick to lead the Colony boys to a 4-1 win over East. Cade Johnstone also scored for the Knights.

Friday, Colony swept Eagle River. Wakaliuk scored both goals in a 2-1 win over the Wolves. Krozel also scored twice in a 4-1 boys’ win. Sullivan Menard and Michael Sliwa also scored.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.