Palmer, Colony girls eliminated in NLC tourney

PALMER — The game started two hours later than scheduled and a thin haze hung in the air from the Funny River fire over 100 miles away.

But even with the adverse circumstances, the Soldotna girls still came away with a 3-0 win over Palmer on the first day of the Northern Lights Conference soccer tournament.

“Oh it’s a big relief,” said Soldotna coach Jimmy Love. “If you don’t win, you’re going home. So winning the first game is big, and it’s a big boost for the girls.”

The Stars held control early and often, leading the stats sheet in shots on goal (25) as the Moose struggled to keep the ball out of their defensive zone. Palmer managed only two shots on goal (unofficially).

“We were moving the ball fairly well, but it came down to finishing,” Love said. “Their goalie made some nice saves, but there were some spots where there shouldn’t have been a save.

“I think we did what we had to do to get past this game.”

The win leaves SoHi with a Friday matchup with Homer at 11 a.m. at Wasilla High School. The Mariners got through day one with a 3-2 win over Grace Christian.

The winners of today’s games automatically get a state berth, and will play for the NLC championship Saturday at 2 p.m. The losers will face off in Saturday’s third-place game, which will decide the third state berth.

SoHi was scheduled to play at 11 a.m. Thursday, but the day’s events were all pushed back two hours in hopes that the haze from the Funny River fire on the Peninsula would blow through, and sure enough, the skies cleared enough to safely hold soccer matches. By the end of the day, the skyline was once again dominated by famous Pioneer Peak.

“I understand why they did what they did, but you have your plans set on an 11 a.m. game time,” Love said. “Well that goes out the window, and I was upset we didn’t get here until 12:30.”

The Stars didn’t roll into the stadium until 30 minutes from kickoff, which Love said was due to traffic and bussing issues.

But all was right with SoHi once the match got under way.

Soldotna scored in the eighth minute on a penalty kick taken by Julie Litchfield. After a SoHi player was tackled in the penalty box, Litchfield was chosen to take the kick, and even though her initial shot was swiftly blocked by Palmer goalie Katarina Godden, Litchfield caught the rebound and netted it for a SoHi lead.

Just two minutes later, Alyssa Wolfe beat a Palmer defender and charged to the goal to take a shot. Her kick was deflected by Godden but the ball spun backwards and into the net for a second goal.

Once the Stars were holding a 2-0 lead, the play on field ramped up as Palmer attempted to fight back. In the 32nd minute, SoHi’s Taryn McCubbins was charged with a yellow card for shoving an opponent, and 15 minutes into the second half, Kylee Wolfe was carded for rough play.

It didn’t matter for SoHi, however, as the Stars added a third goal in the 51st minute from Olivia Conradi, who received the ball on a rebound shot off the crossbar. Kelci Benson had the original shot.

Perhaps the lone area of concern for SoHi was in the 68th minute, when Kylee Wolfe tripped and fell to the turf clutching her leg. She needed to be helped off by coaches, but Love said her ailment was a simple muscle cramp. For now, though, the Soldotna girls are sitting in the drivers seat.

Kenai 5, Colony 0

PALMER — The Kardinals made sure they were playing through Saturday by shutting out the Knights Thursday at Colony High School.

Kenai will play Wasilla Friday at 3 p.m. at Wasilla High School.

The Warriors topped Nikiski 3-0 Thursday to move on in the NLC tournament. A Friday victory ensures a state bid, while a loss means playing in Saturday’s third-place game, in which the winner goes to state.

“This was big, we’re not one and done,” said Kenai coach Dan Verkuilen. “We’re excited Cori Holmes got cleared and got some time playing, that’s the first time she’s been on the field in weeks.”

Holmes was injured in a match against Grace Christian earlier in the season, and Verkuilen said Holmes’ presence in the game helped to alleviate midfield weaknesses left by Allie Ostrander, who is skipping the tournament to run the state track meet.

“We weren’t putting the ball in against better teams,” Verkuilen said. “That was my biggest fear, and it’s nice to get that breakaway goal early.”

The Kards struck first in the seventh minute, getting a goal from Taylor Sheldon, who brought home the strike on assists from Rebecca Miller and Abi Tuttle.

At the 15th minute, Lara Creighton received a through ball from Kylie Morse and was able to handily beat the defenders to slot in a second Kenai goal past Colony goalkeeper Peyton Shaw.

Even between Kenai goals, the Knights managed to make few attempts on goal.

“(Colony) made a couple runs at us, and we started figuring out what plays they were making and we were able to put the girls in the right spots,” Verkuilen said.

Tuttle scored in the 31st minute after receiving a throw-in to put the Kards up 3-0 at the halftime break.

Colony coach Lorie Miner said the challenge of battling against tougher competition with a team that doesn’t harbor a single comp player. Add in the fact that Shaw is a first-year goalkeeper, and Colony’s season ending early is not much of a surprise, even one year after winning the region title.

“It’s been a rough year, it’s been frustrating,” Miner said. “We have a lot of fresh, young players, and we’re just still trying to figure out the nuts and bolts of where we belong.”

Creighton added a second goal eight minutes into the second half with help from Cassie Holmes, and Samantha Morse wrapped the scoring up in the 70th minute with help from Jacey Ross.

Unofficially, Kenai outshot Colony 10-7, but now are faced with the task of beating a Wasilla girls team that is quite strict with ball possession.

“It’s exciting knowing that if they do well tomorrow, we’ll be going to state,” Verkuilen said.