Girls soccer: Colony ties Kenai

PALMER - Colony freshman Emily Rich was justified in being a bundle of nerves before the start of Friday's girls' soccer game against visiting Kenai. After all, it was her first start on the varsity squad, after playing one game in goal for the junior varsity team.

Once the game started, she played with the savvy and poise of a veteran, helping preserve a 0-0 draw with the Kardinals.

&#8220I was a mess before the game,” Rich said. &#8220I felt sick to my stomach and was shaking. But once things got going I was able to focus on the ball and it settled me down really fast.”

It was a good thing that she was able to collect herself, because Kenai was determined to test her abilities.

&#8220I knew they had a young goalie starting for them,” Kenai coach Dan Verkuilen said. &#8220I told the girls to keep the pressure on her and we'd eventually find an opening.”

Despite firing nine shots on goal in the first half they were unable to crack either Rich or the Colony defense.

&#8220They out-shot us,” Colony coach Lorie Miner said. &#8220But they never got any really good scoring chances. Our defense kept them in check and made things easier for Emily.”

Rich continued to be on top of things to start off the second half, turning away six shots in the first three minutes of play.

Despite her stellar performance in net, Rich credited her defense for making most of her saves relatively

easy.

&#8220They were contesting every shot,” Rich said. &#8220I have confidence that they will make the play and that made my job pretty simple tonight.”

Assistant coach Ed Powell worked all week in practice retooling the Knights defense, and it paid dividends.

&#8220We were struggling, and some changes had to be made,” Miner said. &#8220Even though the game wound up a draw, I was pleased with how the girls took to the new defense.”

In addition to playing against an aggressive Kenai team, the Knights were forced to play the second half with a stiff wind blowing right in their face.

&#8220A wind this strong forced us to change our game,” Miner explained. &#8220We had to go out there and make short passes and stay compact - which meant we focused more on staying in position and playing defense.”

Even though she was pleased with her team's performance Friday, Miner hopes that things will change for the Knights which have lost one game and tied the other two they've played this season.

&#8220Hopefully we're done with the losses and done with the ties this season,” Miner said. &#8220It's time to put them behind us and start winning.”

Contact Darrell L. Breese at 352-2267 or at darrell.breese@

frontiersman.com.