Freshman’s corner kicks help Knights bounce Kards

PALMER — It didn’t take long for Rebecca Steel-Mackey to find her role on the Colony Knights girls’ varsity soccer squad. A few roles, actually.

Already a starter on defense, Steel-Mackey has emerged as Colony’s go-to girl on the corner kick. Saturday, the freshman used a pair of kicks from the corner to set up both Colony goals during a 2-0 win over the Kenai Kardinals at Colony High School.

“Mackey’s been doing a great job,” Colony head coach Lorie Miner said. “We’ve given her that task of corner kicks and ball placement, and she has been delivering every time.”

Steel-Mackey placed a corner kick from the right side on the far side of the net, and junior Brittney Anderson knocked it out of the air and into the net during the seventh minute to give the Knights the 1-0 lead.

In the 62nd minute, Steel-Mackey sent another corner kick in front of the net. Once again, Anderson got a hold of it and redirected it into the net to give the Knights the 2-0 lead.

Another freshman, goalie Jaden Chew, recorded the shutout in the Knights’ net.

In addition to Steel-Mackey’s success with the corner kicks, Miner said passing proved key in the win.

“We found our passing game. We could not connect on any of our passes yesterday (against Soldotna). But today, we did a fairly good job in the first half at least,” Miner said.

The Knights appeared to have taken a three-goal lead late in regulation, with a booming Jamie Krediet kick from just outside the box. But the goal was disallowed.

The Colony wins, combined with a pair of Wasilla victories over the weekend, set up a battle for the NLC North’s No. 1. seed. Colony will host Wasilla Monday at 5 p.m. The winner will be seeded first in the upcoming NLC tournament, which starts at Colony on Thursday.

Palmer 0, Kenai 0

PALMER — The Palmer Moose and Kenai Kardinals played to a scoreless tie Friday at Machetanz Field in Palmer.

“It was back and forth,” Palmer head coach Harmony Chadwick said.

Morgan Morfe recorded the shutout in the Moose net.

Soldotna 2, Colony 0

PALMER — Soldotna scored a 2-0 win over Colony at Colony High School on Friday.

The Stars converted a penalty kick during the 18th minute in the win.

Soldotna 5, Palmer 0

PALMER — Despite dropping a 5-0 decision to Soldotna Saturday morning, Palmer head coach Harmony Chadwick took away positive thoughts from her team’s performance.

The Moose were without their starting sweeper and keeper during the Northern Lights Conference game. Palmer also held Soldotna to just a single goal in the second half. Chadwick praised the play of junior Kirsten Sworts, who stepped up from her role as junior varsity keeper to play the final 40 minutes of action.

Boys soccer

Colony 3, Kenai 0

PALMER — The Colony Knights recorded their second shutout in as many days, a 3-0 win over Kenai Saturday at Colony High.

“We defended really well,” Colony head coach Jeremy Johnson said. “We’ve been working a lot on our organization, and we’re a lot more organized.”

Logan Basner took a through ball from Tanner Menard during the 10th minute and scored to give the Knights the 1-0 lead.

Basner sent a cross that set up a Matt Kelly goal during the 29th minute to help the Knights take the two-goal advantage. Jordan Healy rounded out the scoring with a goal set up by a John Meaney corner kick in the 38th minute.

James Meaney recorded the shutout in the Colony net.

Colony 4, Soldotna 0

PALMER — Hunter Fisher recorded the hat trick to lead Colony to a 4-0 win over Soldotna on Friday.

Fisher converted a penalty kick during the first half to give Colony the 1-0 lead. The senior added goals during the 48th and 75th minutes. Avery Smith scored during the 73rd minute for the Knights.

Colony held Soldotna without a shot in the game.

Palmer 1, Kenai 1

PALMER — The Palmer Moose scored early in regulation, but Avery Palchikoff scored during the final 10 minutes of play to help the Kenai Kardinals force a 1-1 tie at Machetanz Field in Palmer on Friday.