Knights rebound, grab 3rd

PALMER — During a 4-2 semifinal loss to Wasilla, the Colony Knights seemed to have trouble getting things started.

But things were different on Saturday.

Colony scored in the seventh minute and tallied four goals in the first half en route to a 6-1 win over rival Palmer in the Northern Lights Conference Championships third-place match at Colony High School Saturday afternoon.

“They came out fired up,” Colony head coach Jeremy Johnson said of his team Saturday. “We’ve got a good group of seniors. They’re the two-time defending region champions. They decided, well we didn’t win the conference tournament, let’s set our sights toward the state tournament. That’s what we did by winning today.”

Senior Grant Krueger netted the hat trick to help his team grab the win and advance to the 4A state championship tournament.

“His effort to get to the ball,” Johnson said about Krueger’s play in the match. “Winning the 50-50 balls in the box. Two of his three goals were off of headers. He has two breakaway chances, scored the one and pushed the other just wide. It’s just straight effort going to the ball.”

Krueger scored Colony’s final three goals of the game. During the final minute of the first half, with the Knights leading 3-0, junior John Meaney played the ball forward. Senior Connor Weihs chipped the ball into the penalty box, and Krueger tapped it into the right side of the net to give the Knights the four-goal lead.

Krueger’s final two goals came off headers. In the 63rd minute, with Krueger fixed to the left post, the senior headed the ball in on a cross from the right side to push Colony’s lead to 5-1. Krueger scored again two minutes later, using a header to knock in a Matt Kelly cross.

Kruger used yet another header earlier in action to keep play alive and help set up a Meaney goal.

In the 21st minute, after a long Logan Basner throw-in, Krueger headed the ball at the far post to keep the play alive. Meaney was able to pick up the ball in the middle of the penalty box and use his left foot to put a hard strike into the box.

Avery Smith sparked the Knights, placing a shot high in the right corner of the net during the seventh minute. Lucas Hickle converted a penalty kick for the Knights in the 32nd minute.

Palmer was able to get on the scoreboard in the 47th minute. Jacob Spannagel converted a penalty kick to cut Colony’s lead to 4-1. Palmer also had another penalty shot in the 37th minute, but Colony senior goalkeeper James Meaney came up with the save.

While Colony moves on to the state tournament with the win, Palmer’s season comes to an end with the loss. Even though the Moose season is over, Palmer advanced to the semifinals for the second time in as many years.

Grace Christian 4, Palmer 1

PALMER — Grace Christian used three unanswered goals to score a 4-1 win over Palmer in the NLC semifinals.

Palmer’s Daniel Burton converted a penalty kick in the first half for the Moose and the teams headed into the break tied at 1.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/matsu_sports.