Defensive stop sparks CHS

PALMER — The Colony Knights haven’t lacked for scoring this season. But if Colony hopes to defend its Northern Lights Conference title and work its way back into a second consecutive state championship match, it may come down to defense.

And Friday, Colony’s defense was in championship form.

Colony goalkeeper Sean Haley earned the shutout and defender Trevor Murray made possibly a match-changing play to help Colony post a 3-0 win over rival Wasilla at Colony High School.

Early in the second half, with Colony clinging to a 1-0 lead, talented Wasilla striker Oleg Lozko dribbled the ball deep into the box. Lozko pulled Haley off the goal line, and as he prepared to shoot on an open piece of the Knights net, Murray slid to the goal line and blocked the Lozko shot to keep the Warriors scoreless.

“That was great,” Colony head coach Jeremy Johnson said of Murray’s save. “Trevor is a smart player, really skilled as well. He thinks the game really well. It’s nice to have a guy like that back there we can count on to be in the right position.”

The Murray save was part of a short span of action that allowed Colony to pull them momentum away from a Warriors team surging into the second half. Almost immediately following the Murray save, Wasilla had another opportunity. The ball found its way back into the box, and WHS striker Ethan Keenan battled Haley for possession, and used a header to knock the ball into the net. The Warriors thought they had tied the game at 1. But the goal was disallowed.

Minutes later, at the other end of the field, Colony was awarded a penalty kick, and Austin Richardson converted to give the Knights the 2-0 lead in the 57th minute. Colony’s Cameron Shaw scored again in the 58th minute to push the Colony advantage to 3-0. Captain Ben Atkinson recorded a first-half goal for the Knights.

“The second half the momentum started to change. We started to gain momentum,” Wasilla head coach Blake Livingston said. “The (Colony) defender made the save off the goal line and we got the goal called back. Then they got the PK right after that. We had the chance to get back into it.”

Led by the likes of Haley and Murray, the Colony defense held strong with the lead, and helped Colony earn the win to clinch the top seed from the North Division in the upcoming Northern Lights Championships. Johnson said the play of his defense is certainly key to the Knights success.

“It’s really big. I have to give credit to all of them. Our right back position has been kind of like the Spinal Tap drummer position. It seems we can’t keep them. They’re not spontaneously combusting, but they keep getting injured. We’ve been rotating back there. Asher (Dale) is back there now. Chaz (Stephens) does a great job in the middle, Trevor on the outside. Between Austin Richardson and Alex Kessler in back, we’ve got a smart, good group. I’m glad to see they’ve really jelled and have come together. Our entire defense all graduated last year.”

Despite the loss, Livingston said he is happy with how his team is performing heading into the NLC tourney, which starts Thursday at Wasilla High.

“Colony is arguably the best team in the state. Every time we face them, we really have to bring it,” Livingston said. “I think it’s really important to play a quality opponent like Colony right before regions. You know what level you have to be playing at. It’s a tough test. It showed us what we did well, but also what we need to work on.”