Prep boys soccer: CHS storms to win

KENAI — Colony scored all eight goals in a 7-1 thrashing of the Skyview Panthers Friday in Soldotna.

Freshman forward James Meaney had a hat trick, while junior Marc Bourassa added two goals, junior Cody Fritz had one and senior Cody Vetter added another for the Knights, whose only blemish came courtesy of an own goal by junior defender Chris Bardsley.

“So far, so good,” Colony coach Jeremy Johnson said following the win, which moved the Knights to 5-0-1 on the season.

Logan Smith had four assists for Colony.

Colony was going into a strong wind during the first half, which masked the Knights’ dominance somewhat. Meaney got his first goal in the 18th minute, taking a pass just inside the 18-yard-line, turning, settling and firing a powerful shot past Skyview keeper Trent Bunning.

Three minutes later, Bourassa’s header off a Colony throw-in made it 2-0 after just 15 minutes of play.

Bunning managed to turn back several more Colony shots in the frame, while Colony keeper Elliot Gilbert spent much of his time yelling encouragement to teammates at the far end of the field.

Gilbert was finally tested in the 35th minute, when the Panthers earned their first corner kick try of the game. Skyview’s Ben Meinung got his head on the ball in front of the goal, and Bardsley tried to clear it out of the box. But the junior defender hit the ball awkwardly on his thigh, instead directing it into the Colony net to give the Panthers their only score of the afternoon.

The embarrassing mistake didn’t end up costing the Knights, which put on an offensive exhibition once they got the wind, scoring five times in the first 20 minutes of the second half to turn what had been a close game into a rout.

“We were passing a lot and getting a lot of shots off, so eventually one of them has to go in,” Meaney said.

Meaney scored his second and third goals of the game on back-to-back headers just three minutes apart. In the 43rd minute, the 5-foot-11 freshman leaped to redirect Logan Smith’s chip toward the net. Then in the 46th minute, Meaney and Smith again teamed up, this time off a throw-in that Meaney was again able to nod into the net.

When asked about his knack for scoring goals in the air, Meaney said the answer was simple.

“My tallness,” he said.

Bourassa got his second goal of the game off a nice feed from off the end line by Oliver Querin. Fritz’s acrobatic left-footed shot while falling down made the score 6-1, and Vetter finished the scoring by bulling his way through the defense in the 60th minute.

Colony could have easily reached double figures in goals had it not been for the play of Bunning, who despite giving up seven goals played well for the Panthers in net.

James Meaney said the Knights’ impressive display of firepower Friday shows the team has the ability to be among the state’s best this season. The Knights are looking to return to the state tournament this season after missing out on a berth for the first time in school history last year, and the freshman said he believes Colony is set to start another streak.

“This year we have everybody in place,” he said. “I think we’re going to come back this year.”

Colony 5, Homer 0

HOMER — James Meaney, Weston Patrick, Cody Fritz, Bridger VanNess and Collin Murphy scored goals for the Knights, which outscored their opponents 12-1 over their two-game road trip.

Logan Smith had four assists for the Knights, giving him eight in two Kenai Peninsula games.

“He was an assist-making machine,” Colony coach Jeremy Johnson said.

Contact Frontiersman sports reporter Matt Tunseth at matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com.