Colony, Wasilla to play for NLC girls title; Colony boys also advance to final

PALMER — Three Valley teams remained alive after the first day of the Northern Lights Conference Champions. Now all three are headed for the state tournament.

The Colony and Wasilla girls’ squads, and the Colony boys team each scored region semifinal wins to secure automatic berths to the ASAA/First National Bank State Soccer Championships.

“We told the girls it’s a three-step process. Get through the first day so you’re still playing. Win the second day so you can punch that trip to state. And now we have to worry about winning the trophy,” Colony head coach Jeremy Johnson said after a 1-0 win over Kenai in the NLC girls’ semifinals Friday afternoon at Colony High.

Sophomore Jazlyn Nino scored the lone goal for the Knights, chipping a ball over Kenai’s diving goalkeeper, Kailey Hamilton, during the 12th minute of play.

“She’s been playing great for us all year,” Johnson said of Nino. “She’s a really hard worker, a great outside midfielder for us.”

Thanks to the play of its defense, and a big save from keeper Maddy Zmuda late, Colony used the Nino goal to advance to the NLC girls’ title game for the first time since 2014.

“I would have liked to get that second goal, but I didn’t feel like we got threatened other than that one direct kick,” Johnson said.

In the 75th minute, Kenai’s Brenna Eubanks took a direct kick from about 30 yards out. Eubanks sent a blast high toward the Colony net. Zmuda used both hands to knock it away. In the 46th minute, Kenai’s Lara Creighton knocked a ball off the right corner of the crossbar from just outside the left side of the box.

“Otherwise the defense did a great job,” Johnson said.

Johnson credited the likes of Madison Wakaliuk and Mykaela McMullen for their work on the defensive end.

With the win, Colony moves forward and will face rival Wasilla in the NLC title game Saturday at 2 p.m. at Colony High. The Warriors, the defending NLC champions, overcame a slow start to grab a 5-1 win over Soldotna in the other semifinal.

“They came out hard, came out strong,” Wasilla head coach Patrick O’Neill said of the Stars.

Soldotna’s Abi Tuttle scored on a direct kick from about 25 yards out during the 20th minute to give the Stars the 1-0 lead.

“They caught us off guard a little bit,” O’Neill said of a Soldotna squad the Warriors beat 7-0 two weeks ago.

Wasilla countered with five unanswered goals to move into the region final for the second straight year. Abby Crawford tied the game during the 19th minute, and Reese Sande provided the go-ahead score four minutes later. With an Alia Donley goal, Wasilla led 3-1 at halftime.

Ally Hull and Nicole Catlett added second-half goals for Wasilla.

Colony boys advance

Sparked by an early Noah Krozel goal, the Colony Knights advanced to the NLC boys final with a 2-0 win over Homer Friday afternoon at Colony High.

Krozel tucked a shot just inside the left post from about 15 yards out during the 15th minute to give Colony the lead. Kyle Dearborn converted a penalty kick late in the second half for the Knights. Colony head coach Jeremy Johnson said getting the Krozel goal early was key for the Knights in a match against a traditionally defensive-minded Homer squad.

“It’s really important. We want to get them out of their game,” Johnson said.

Colony will face Kenai in the boys’ final for the third straight year. Colony beat Kenai in the 2015 region championship, and the Kards won the rematch last year. Kenai advanced with a 5-0 win over Soldotna in the semifinals

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