Colony, Wasilla girls play to tie at state soccer tourney

WASILLA — Not much separated Colony and Wasilla in 2017. And in one more meeting on the final day of the girls’ soccer season, nothing separated the rivals.

The Knights and Warriors played to a 1-1 tie in the ASAA/First National Bank State Soccer Championships fourth-place game Saturday morning at Service High School in Anchorage.

“It was pretty much like the last three times we played,” Colony head coach Jeremy Johnson said by cellphone. “We are going to play as defensive as we can, and hopefully get a chance to counter attack.”

Much like Colony’s 1-0 win over the Warriors during the Northern Lights Conference championship game, that’s exactly what happened. Trailing 1-0 during the 55th minute, Colony Gabby Wakaliuk ran down a ball cleared by Isabella Brown from about 30 yards out, and Wakaliuk scored to tie the goal at 1.

“It’s been like that all year against Wasilla,” Johnson said.

Alexis Friesen gave Wasilla the early lead, scoring about 15 minutes into the first half. Friesen sent a volley from just outside the box into the upper corner of the net. Colony goalkeeper Maddy Zmuda got a hand on the shot, Johnson said, but the ball hit the crossbar and bounced in.

“She got a hand on it. It was a good effort,” Johnson said.

Wasilla head coach Patrick O’Neill said the game followed in line with meetings of the past, but he’s proud of the way his team played throughout.

“We played really well, one of the best start to finish games we’ve played as far as ball control and passing. We just couldn’t finish that second or third goal,” O’Neill said.

Both Johnson and O’Neill cited a potentially match-saving play late in the game. During the final minutes, Wasilla’s Abby Crawford put a blast on net. The shot got past Zmuda, but Maddie Wakaliuk, one of Colony’s standout defenders, was in the right position to clear the ball off the line.

“A defender was standing there like it was a corner kick. It was a great stop,” O’Neill said.

The Knights and Warriors finish the season in a tie for fourth place at state. According to tournament rules, overtime can only be played in the championship game on the final day of the tournament.

Colony 2, Kenai 0

A day before playing Wasilla in the fourth-place game, the Knights faced another NLC rival in the consolation semifinals.

The Knights beat Kenai 2-0. Gabby Wakaliuk scored both goals for the Knights.

“We really held it in their end,” Johnson said. “They have pretty decent defenders and goalkeeper and were able to keep it close.”

Wasilla 1, West Valley 0

Abby Crawford scored the lone goal to give Wasilla a 1-0 win over West Valley in the consolation semifinals Friday afternoon.

“It was the best game we played all season, start to finish,” O’Neill said.

Dimond 3, Colony 2

Dimond needed sudden death to edge Colony 3-2 in the boys’ consolation semifinals Friday evening.

Logan Curtis scored during the final minutes of regulation to force overtime. Kyle Dearborn converted a penalty kick in overtime to give Colony the 2-1 lead, but the Lynx were able to scrape together a pair of unanswered goals to stay alive in the tournament.

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