Colony, South play to tie in state title rematch

PALMER — Early in the season, the Colony Knights want to have the chance to see a team they might face late in the year. That’s exactly what happened Thursday night.

In a rematch of the 2013 boys state title game, Colony and South Anchorage played to a 2-2 tie at Colony High School.

“We can’t ask for a much more quality opponent. Teams change year to year, but to play out of conference against the defending state champion, that was a good match for us,” longtime head coach Jeremy Johnson said after the tie. “The guys were hungry. They wanted to play that game.”

South Anchorage scored a pair of second-half goals to take a 2-1 lead deep into the contest, but Colony provided the equalizer during the 77th minute of play.

“We lost a little of the wind out of our sails by the last 20 (minutes),” Johnson said. “We wore down. We need to work on our fitness.”

Despite facing some fatigue, the Knights were able to knot the game at 2. Ben Sande converted a penalty kick in the 77th minute to tie the game.

Colony took an early lead in the contest. Asher Dale scored in the 12th minute to give CHS the 1-0 advantage. Chaz Stephens won a battle outside the box, and knocked the ball into the box, where Dale picked it up and tucked a shot high inside the near post.

South tied the score at 1 during the 65th minute. Britton Clifford took a pass from Lucas Seymour and scored. South took a 2-1 lead during the 71st minute. Wesley Chien sent a corner kick in front of the CHS net. The ball bounced around, and Kai Kokesh was able to knock it in.

Each team finished with 13 shots in the game.

Colony continues a three-match homestand Friday, hosting East Anchorage at 7 p.m. The Knights host Chugiak at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Colony girls open their season against Chugiak at 5 p.m. Saturday.