Opposite outcomes for Moose boys, girls

SOLDOTNA — Friday’s Northern Lights Conference soccer game between the host Skyview girls and Palmer showed the value of a striker who finishes a high percentage of opportunities and a goalie who can get up in the air and make saves.

The Panthers won 3-1 as Alicia West scored two goals and set up another by getting fouled at the top of the penalty area. Goalie Amanda McDowell held the Moose at bay by coming aggressively off her line to thwart opportunities and jumping high in the air to keep several shots from ducking under the crossbar.

In the boys’ game, Palmer topped Skyview 12-0.

“We wanted to show the Valley teams that we are serious this year,” McDowell said after the Panthers moved to 2-1-3 overall. “We want to go to state.”

According to West, a victory over Palmer, which fell to 4-4-1, gives the Panthers a boost of confidence.

“It’s definitely a big ego boost to beat a Valley team,” she said. “We should now feel like we can beat teams down here and have a good shot at regions.”

The two squads were relatively equal in terms of possession and field position. Palmer took four goal kicks to Skyview’s 14 largely due to a letdown by the Panthers at the beginning of the second half. Palmer also had four corner kicks to Skyview’s one, but Skyview had seven solid shots on goal to Palmer’s five.

The big difference is that when Skyview got the ball to West in scoring position, she was adept at taking advantage.

When Palmer had scoring chances, McDowell was generally up to the task.

“She covers the goal well, but we were also shooting to the near post all the time and that’s the easiest side to cover,” Palmer head coach Harmony Chadwick said.

In the seventh minute, Makinna Halverson played the ball into the middle. West outfought two defenders, then poked the ball past Palmer goalie Morgan Morfe.

“When she gets ornery, she can get in there and create chances,” Skyview coach David Carpenter said.

West continued to cause problems in the 32nd minute. She was getting ready to break past the last defender when she was fouled just outside the top of the penalty area. Nicole Tromblee bent the free kick into the net — her second free kick goal of the season.

“Their team was winning the 50-50 balls in the first half,” Chadwick said.

That changed to start the second half. Palmer put pressure on and scored six minutes into the second half. When a Skyview defender missed a chance to clear, the ball bounced to Elliot Perkins all alone in front of the net. McDowell never had a chance.

After West’s second goal, Palmer’s Kendal Venzke had moved herself back to defense from midfield so the Moose had somebody who matched up better with West. That worked OK until the 65th minute, when West again outfought defenders for a Brittany Mercier cross and scored to turn the momentum. For good measure, West, who has scored five of the Panthers’ eight goals this year, grazed a chance off the outside of the post 11 minutes later.

“West is my forward,” McDowell said. “I can count on her to get the ball and at least get a shot off if she doesn’t score.”

Making Skyview’s victory more impressive was the fact that it came without starting stopper Megan Janorschke, who was sick. Carpenter said Annita Braun and Nicole Thomas did a great job filling in for Janorschke.

Likewise, Chadwick said Jordan Brooke did a good job filling in for Venzke in the midfield. After the game, team members also said Morfe was OK after coming off in the 68th minute with an injury. Katarina Godden finished the game in goal.

Palmer 12, Skyview 0

Auberin Stirickland had four goals, and Joshua Banks and Thomas Morino combined on a shutout in the nonconference victory for the Moose.

Also for the Moose, who are now 5-6, Steven Lee had two goals.

“Skyview kept a good attitude throughout the game,” Palmer coach Kevin Dearborn said. “That can be tough to do, but it will help them get better in the future.”

Many players on Skyview’s varsity squad usually have to play in the junior varsity game. Because Nikiski’s junior varsity came to play Palmer, Skyview was fresher and was down just 4-0 at the half.

“It helped to play only one game,” said Skyview coach Rustin Hitchcock, whose squad remained winless. “We were able to stall them for a while, but we just didn’t have the bodies to keep fresh on defense. We’ve been ravaged by injuries and ineligibility.”