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EAGLE RIVER — The Wasilla Warriors hoped the third time would be the charm. But their third meeting of the season against Kenai provided an all-too-familiar result.
A loss to the Kardinals.
Kenai used goals from Cori Holmes and Hannah Drury to score a 2-0 win over the Warriors during the first round of the ASAA/First National Bank State Soccer Championships in Eagle River Thursday afternoon.
Kenai improved to 3-0 against the Warriors this season with the win, and advanced to the state semifinals where the Kardinals will face 2014 state runner-up Service. Wasilla drops back into consolation semifinals to meet defending state champion Dimond Friday at 5 p.m. at Eagle River High School.
“It’s almost like we’re snakebitten against Kenai,” Wasilla head coach Patrick O’Neill said after the loss.
Kenai edged Wasilla 1-0 during the regular season, scoring a goal off a corner kick with less than 30 seconds left in regulation. The Kardinals also beat Wasilla 2-1 in the Northern Lights Conference tournament semifinals, scoring the victory despite being outshot 22-4. Judging by how well his team had played against Kenai during the closes losses, O’Neill said the Warriors walked onto the turf Thursday excited about their potential.
“I can’t really put my finger on what happened,” O’Neill said. “We had a good warm-up. The girls were excited and loose like they usually are.”
O’Neill credited the Kardinals with their aggressive play, something different from what Wasilla saw in past meetings. That in part, O’Neill said, prevented the Warriors from having their typical success with their possession-style game.
“We never got control of the midfield like we usually do,” O’Neill said. “(Kenai) played really aggressive, played strong defense. They had a pretty good game plan. We didn’t get a fourth of the shots we got against them last time.”
Kenai took the lead late in the first half. Holmes converted a penalty kick in the 35th minute. The Kardinals extended that advantage early in the second half. During the 47th minute, Caitlin Steinbeck put in a shot from outside of the box, on the right side of the field. Drury knocked in the rebound on the near side.
“That deflated us,” O’Neill said of the second Kenai goal. “That gave them that energy boost and allowed them to finish out the game pretty strong.”
Alli Steinbeck earned the shutout for Kenai.
“I’m still really proud of my team,” O’Neill said. “We’re not giving up by any means.”
O’Neill knew the Warriors would have a tough draw on the second day, win or lose. Alaska School Activities Association uses a blind draw method to seed its state soccer brackets. The blind draw set up a rematch of the 2013 girls’ state championship, Dimond versus Service, in the first round on the same side of the bracket as the Wasilla-Kenai match. Thursday afternoon in Anchorage, Service needed a shootout to edge Dimond 2-1.
In other girls action, NLC champion Soldotna beat Lathrop 3-0. South Anchorage cruised by Thunder Mountain 9-0.
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