Palmer girls blank Kenai

PALMER - It will be hard for the Palmer girls soccer squad to put together consecutive wins that are more different than the victories the Moose posted at Machetanz Field on Friday and Saturday.

The Moose followed a 7-4 win over Soldotna on Friday, with a 2-0 win over Kenai at Machetanz Field on Saturday.

&#8220We certainly played a lot more solid defense today,” Palmer head coach Brian Fish said after the win over the Kardinals. &#8220It was kind of a scorefest last night.”

Fish said the Moose (2-0-2) struggled defensivley against a fast Soldotna team, but regrouped on Saturday.

&#8220Today was a good indication of what style we want to play,” Fish said. &#8220We were able to move the ball around, and play with a lot more confidence.”

Sophomores Chelsea Beetch and Jessica Wycoff tallied goals, and senior keeper Brooke Gardner earned the shutout in the win over Kenai.

Beetch posted her fourth goal of the season on a penalty kick early in the second half. Later in the half, Wycoff took a pass from junior Ashley Dickerson and scored to give the Moose a 2-0 lead.

Dickerson knocked the ball high in the air toward the Kardinal net. As Wycoff took the pass, Kenai goalkeeper Kyla Steward ventured away from the goal to challenge. Steward ran into a teammate, and the ball squirted through the pair of Kenai players. Wycoff broke through the pressure, and had a free look at the Kenai net.

The Kardinals had a pair of quality opportunities to get on the scoreboard late in the game.

With 12 minutes left, Keeley Boyle pushed a penalty kick attempt wide right. With eight minutes remaining, Taylor Brewer was inches away from cutting the Kardinals' deficit to one goal.

Brewer drove the ball down the right side of the field, and fired a shot on the Palmer goal. Gardner used a fingertip save to deflect the shot, but the attempt continued to roll toward the Palmer net until Palmer's Claire Woodings knocked the ball out of play.

On Friday, freshman Tess Anderson scored four goals to lead the Moose in a come-from-behind win over Soldotna.

Beetch added two goals off penalty kicks, and Krysta Thiesen also scored.

Underclassmen have now scored eight of Palmer's nine goals this season.

&#8220They're hungry, they've been well coached in comp. soccer. When you get that, it's a lot easier when they get to this level,” Fish said.

Palmer fell behind 3-1 early, but used four second-half goals to notch the win.

Contact sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at 352-2273, or sports@frontiersman.com.