Girls prep soccer: Valley rivals play to tie

April 27, 2007

By MATT TUNSETH/ Frontiersman

PALMER - It may be just two weeks into the Northern Lights Conference soccer season, but both the Colony and Palmer girls showed Thursday that they're playing for keeps.

The two rivals left everything on the field during a physical 2-2 tie at Machetanz Field at Palmer High School.

&#8220You're always going to get that when you've got two teams that go hard out there,” Palmer coach Brian Fish said following the game.

Colony (0-3-2 overall, 0-1-2 NLC) twice took the lead before Palmer (1-1-1 overall, 1-1-1 NLC) was able to fight back, eventually tying things for good on Claire Woodings' goal in the 47th minute.

Colony midfielder Kara Larson opened the scoring in the 14th minute when she got loose in the Palmer box and slipped a low shot between Colony goalie Chelsea Beetch and the post.

Larson's goal stood up until the 33rd minute, when Palmer striker Tess Anderson caught Colony freshman keeper Katelyn Payne off her line, and calmly lofted a perfect shot from 20 yards out into the back of the net.

The game remained tied going into the second half, but didn't stay that way for long thanks to the play of Colony sophomore striker Tara &#8220Turbo” Murray.

Murray - whose speed created all kinds of problems for the Palmer defense throughout the game - opened things up with a nice shot just seconds after the opening kickoff that forced Beetch to make a clutch save.

Just four minutes later, Murray again came streaking down the left side, this time firing a cross to April Bleicher in front of the net. Bleicher's touch on the ball was clean, and she gathered herself nicely before depositing the ball over a leaping Beetch to stake Colony to a 2-1 lead.

Following the game, Colony head coach Lorie Miner had high praise for Murray.

&#8220She was the player of the game for us,” Miner said.

In addition to creating chances with her speed, Murray showed some toughness.

After Woodings scored Palmer's game-tying goal, Fish moved her from the midfield to defense to try and counter Murray's speed. Shortly following the change, Woodings leveled Murray with a devastating tackle. But the Colony striker was undeterred, quickly popping back up - then nearly scoring two minutes later.

Fish said moving the physical, strong-legged Woodings to the back line was key to keeping Colony at bay during the late stages of the game.

&#8220I think we did a good job of adjusting today,” Fish said.

Colony's defense also did well in containing Palmer's Anderson. Despite a couple lapses early, the Knights' all-senior back line of Heidi Heimerl, Emily Whitstine and Sydney Stoltenberg kept the speedy Anderson well-marked and eliminated her chances in the second half.

&#8220We've got a strong group back there,” Miner said of her defensive trio. &#8220They keep us in games a lot of times.”

Miner said she was pleased with the outcome overall. Colony had failed to score in its first four matches of the season, and she said getting two goals against Palmer was a big psychological boost for a team that features just four seniors.

&#8220It's huge,” Miner said. &#8220For a young team that's just meshing together, it's big.”

Likewise, Palmer's Fish said he had no complaints following the tie.

&#8220I'm happy with it,” he said. &#8220We're still trying to figure out personnel and positions, and I think we had some good opportunities.”

Palmer is back in action today for a 10 a.m. contest against Nikiski that will be played at Colony due to the Palmer Relays track meet.

Next up for the Knights is a 2 p.m. match-up against the Skyview Panthers at Colony.

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com