Girls tie, Warrior boys win in rough games vs. Kenai

WASILLA — The women Warriors were lucky they didn’t lose any players to injury in the soccer game against the Kenai Kardinals Friday evening.

“Kenai is a big, fast, physical team,” said Wasilla head coach Patrick O’Neill, after the game. “They go hard to the ball and they’re not afraid to get in there with a shoulder.”

O’Neill said the level of intensity in regional games is always high. The Wasilla-Kenai games are “always close, always low-scoring,” he said, which reflected in the 1-1 tie this weekend.

The Wasilla team started slowly, allowing Kenai a couple shots on goal in the first 10 minutes. When a Kenai player (jersey No. 1) finally moved the ball through the Warrior defense and socked it past keeper Lauren Amirault in the 26th minute, the Warriors’ collective frustration level ran high. Both sides threw elbows, shoulders and feet with increasing frequency in attempts to get on the ball.

But finally, two minutes before the half, Alia Donley had a shot on goal. The Kenai keep kept her cool and collected the ball, but a minute later, Starr made an assist to Daija Doughty, who finally went for the inside shot.

She made it.

The Warriors amped up their defense for the second half of the game, but the Kardinals still weren’t budging. About 25 minutes into the half, the Wasilla team made four shots on goal in the span of seven minutes, followed by a penalty kick from Ally Hull, but to no avail.

Girls on both teams felled each other until the very end of the game. A scoreless second half left all, in a way, defeated.

“Our team aura has been kind of off,” admitted Wasilla senior Alexa Starr, after the game.

The Warriors’ ill aura may explain why they threw a few limbs back into the affronts of their rivals — few players were blameless — but there was another reason the girls were on edge.

O’Neill said the girls had played 12 games in the last 18 or 19 days, and they’ll be playing six more before the Region III Championships beginning May 21 — the maximum they’re allowed to play.

“We have high expectations this year,” O’Neill said. “We wanted a lot of games, which is why we kept a big roster.”

He also needed a big roster, because although more games mean more opportunities for improvement, a full schedule also means more opportunity for injury.

“It takes a lot of luck to get to the end of the season with no injuries,” O’Neill said.

Already the Warriors have suffered casualties this season, with two lost for the year in the April 15 game against South Anchorage — one to a broken leg and another to a concussion. A third player is also done for the year due to an ACL injury.

But despite, for example, the blows received by Teyonnah Williams and Emily Rushing in the Kenai game — which left each on the ground and stopped play for significant amounts of time — the majority of the team remained intact.

Saturday morning, the Wasilla girls lost 4-0 to the Soldotna Stars.

Warriors blank Kards

In the boys’ action, senior Grig Lozko was once again the top scorer for Wasilla, making both goals in the 2-0 against Kenai game Friday evening.

The Warriors were dominant for most of the game, clearly wearing down their opponents in the second half. Both of Lozko’s goals were headers and came about halfway into each half.

“Both finishes were fantastic, very opportunistic,” said head coach Blake Livingston of Lozko’s goals.

Unlike in the girls’ game, the Warriors seemed to consistently come on more aggressively.

“It was a gritty effort by our side,” Livingston said.

Still, the yellow cards issued to Lozko and his teammate, Matt Morgan, seemed not in conjunction with particularly unsportsmanlike behavior.

After the game, Coach Livingston spoke amicably with Kenai coaching staff, complimenting them on their speed and athleticism, as well as their impressive goalkeeper.

“Not much comes easy in our region,” Livingston said later.

That much seems true after their 2-0 loss to Soldotna Saturday, which the Warriors will not have a chance to avenge until the region championships.

Contact Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.