Palmer soccer seasons come to end

PALMER — Moose girls’ and boys’ soccer teams fell to Soldotna and Kenai respectively in the opening round of the Region III tournament on Thursday.

The heat visibly hovered over the turf at Machetanz Field, making it an intense arena for Northern Lights Conference soccer. Both Palmer teams entered the tournament as fourth seeds in the northern division, set to face the two first seed teams from the Peninsula.

The Palmer girls lost to the Stars 9-1.

Soldotna standout Miranda Wolfe found the net in the second minute of play after she won a tackle against the Palmer goalkeeper. Two arching goals followed in the ninth and 12th minutes, as Soldotna’s Alex Ashe and Wolfe fired from far beyond the 18-yard box. The Stars continued their run of unanswered goals in the 22nd minute, when midfielder Skyler Shaw hammered home, bringing the score to 4-0.

Leadership and good midfield possession from Palmer sweeper Katy Bowman led to the Moose’s first and only goal. Forward Avery Parker slotted a shot into the goal after she out-sprinted Soldotna’s back line in the 31st minute.

Wolfe came back for another goal in the 34th minute, ending the half 5-1.

Soldotna’s Abi Tuttle intercepted a Palmer goal kick and placed a powerful shot into the net to start scoring in the second half, while Reagan Schoessler, Wolfe and Whitney Wortham added three goals to Soldotna’s tally in the remainder of the game.

The Stars will advance in the tournament to face the Colony Knights on Friday, and head coach Jimmy Love plans to treat every game in the tournament with a working mentality.

“When you come to these games you have to play them all hard, because you know that you can get beat by any seed”, Love said.

Palmer head coach Harmony Chadwick will now concentrate on next year’s season, which she looks forward to because of a young squad. Except for a few seniors, Chadwick tells her team “all of us are coming back — we’ll be a year older and a year wiser.” She encouraged a lot of her players to play on a Mat Valley summer league team, to improve chemistry and teamwork.

Palmer boys 0, Kenai 3

The boys’ game against Kenai offered a closer competition. Palmer’s quick pressure and good passing were bested by Kenai’s strong holding midfield, however. The Kardinals’ Austin Mckee scored once in each half, with Nathan Saavedra earning the penalty that led to Mckee’s second, and scoring himself in the first period of play. Mckee shot from 20 yards for his first goal, and Saavedra tapped in his point after the ball bounced around Palmer’s 6-yard box.

Moose goaltender Brandon Banks made a number of quality saves to keep the Kardinals from scoring anymore, and Palmer head coach Jason Rice admitted after the game that Banks was a valuable player.

“He’s the best keeper in the state”, said Rice, who also noted that Sophomore Johnie Burton would be a future leader for the team. “What we’re trying to do is build a program of a cohesive team that doesn’t just play spring soccer together,” Rice added, looking to improve in the coming season.

Kenai head coach Joel Reemtsma has his sights set on the next round of tournament play.

“If we stay focused and play our game, then we can beat anybody,” Reemtsma said of the Kards, who face Homer in the semifinals Friday at 6 p.m. at PHS.

Contact Kaden Weaver at 352-2270 or kaden.weaver@frontiersman.com