Colony upsets West Anchorage 1-0

ANCHORAGE — The Colony Knights secured the Mat-Su Valley’s first big upset of the season.

Colony stunned previously undefeated West Anchorage 1-0 at Anchorage Football Stadium on Monday.

“It’s big,” said longtime Colony head coach Jeremy Johnson, who recorded his 146th career victory with the win.

It was also Johnson’s first win over West Anchorage during his coaching career.

Colony junior Aaron Richardson converted a penalty kick in the 36th minute to account for the lone goal of the game and help hand the Eagles (6-1) their first loss of the season.

Junior goalie Elliot Gilbert stopped eight shots to shutout a West team that had beaten South Anchorage and Dimond — two of the top squads in the state — early in the year.

Colony outshot West 10-8 in the win.

“I felt like we controlled more of the play than they did, but they definately had some chances,” Johnson said.

West’s best opportunity to put a shot in the back of the Knights net came with about five minutes to play, Johnson said. West’s Conner Taylor knocked a direct kick from about 25 yards out off the Colony goal post.

Colony is now 2-0 this season. The Knights beat Nikiski 6-0 in Anchorage last week.

CHS will host its first matches of the season this weekend. The Knights play Skyview on Friday and Homer on Saturday.

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