NLC girls soccer: Knights, Warriors advance

SOLDOTNA — Freshman Jamie Krediet scored four minutes into the game and sophomore Jessica Farrell added a penalty shot in the 22nd in leading the second-seeded Knights to a shutout of the third-seeded Panthers.

“Two early goals. Get it done. Take care of the ball,” said Colony coach Lorie Miner. “We missed several opportunities the remainder of the first half and then in the second half, too, to be able to score a few more, which would have helped us out a lot. But two goals is all it takes to win.”

After falling 5-1 at home to the Knights a week ago, Skyview coach Ronnie Kier was pleased with the improvement.

“We came out and we matched intensity. We just came out and played soccer,” he said. “I think the biggest thing is we were loose, we were having fun, kids just didn’t put the pressure on themselves to come out and play good. They just did it. It was huge.”

Up next for Colony is top-seeded Soldotna, a 10-0 winner over Grace Christian Thursday. Colony didn’t face SoHi in the regular season.

“We haven’t seen Soldotna at all,” Miner said as she watched the start of the Soldotna-Grace contest. “This is going to be a good test for both of us — the unknown.”

Wasilla 4, Homer 0

The Mariners plans to make their fifth state tournament trip in the past seven years were squashed when freshman Ashlyn Frizzelle scored twice in leading the top-seeded Warriors to an easy victory.

Wasilla freshman Lina Shadrach and junior Aerial Seltenreich also found the back of the net for the Warriors.

Wasilla will face Kenai today at 11 a.m. with a berth in the state tournament on the line.

Kenai girls 1, Palmer 0

Junior Sami Bidwell scored late in the first half and the Kardinals made the lead hold up in overcoming a heartbreaking first-round loss in last season’s conference tournament.

After going 8-0-2 during the regular season last year and earning the top seed in the conference tournament, the Kardinals were bounced in a shootout by Wasilla.

In fact, second-seeded Kenai (9-1) now has a shot at revenge in today’s 11 a.m. semifinal, when they square off with the top-seeded Warriors, who the Kardinals already beat 1-0 this season.

After roughly 35 minutes of scoreless action, junior Holly Perkins took a pass from junior Ashlyn Ross and crossed it to Bidwell, who protected the ball before slipping it past Palmer keeper Chelsea Beetch.