Prep boys soccer: Stars end Colony's season

May 27, 2007

By MATT TUNSETH/ Frontiersman

WASILLA - For the first time since Colony began playing boys soccer in 1993, the Knights won't be sending a team to the state tournament.

The Soldotna Stars broke Colony's streak Saturday in the third-place game of the Northern Lights Conference tournament at Wasilla High, handing the Knights a 2-1 defeat in overtime.

&#8220It hurts,” Colony senior defender Nathan Kowalczk said following the loss.

Soldotna's Brook Carver nodded home a Kyle Van Ryzin corner kick in the 95th minute to seal the victory and send the Stars on to next week's state tournament in Anchorage.

Starting just after noon Saturday, the game marked the third in 25 hours for both teams, and early on neither side appeared to have fresh legs, as neither could find the net in the opening half.

&#8220It's too much soccer to play in two days,” SoHi coach Jeff Siemers said. &#8220It slowed things down.”

Colony coach Jeremy Johnson, who was named the NLC Coach of the Year following the game, agreed that the short tournament took its toll on the players.

&#8220We played 280 minutes of soccer in about 25 hours,” he said.

Colony freshman keeper Elliott Gilbert turned back a number of tough chances in the first half to keep the Knights in the game against SoHi, which came into the tournament as one of the favorites.

Gilbert stopped speedy SoHi forward Blaine Carver on a number of runs into the box to keep things scoreless as the second half wore on. But Carver eventually figured out the best way to solve the Colony keeper in the 68th minute - let someone else shoot.

Carver was in the right place at the right time after Gilbert initially stopped a Matt Grubb shot, poking the ball into the net to give the Stars a 1-0 lead.

Despite falling behind, Colony wasn't about to give in, and battled back to tie things up in the 77th minute when midfielder Cody Fritz got on the end of a Collin Murphy free kick for the game-tying header.

&#8220I'd noticed earlier I was getting to some headers,” Fritz said. &#8220I knew if I was there, I got it.”

The goal gave the Knights a big lift heading into the overtime, but they were unable to use that momentum to slow the Stars enough to send the game to penalty kicks. Colony's best chance to tie things up following the second SoHi goal came with just seconds to go when forward Oliver Querin's low-angle shot rolled harmlessly across the goal mouth.

As was the theme for the NLC tournament, the game featured plenty of physical play and heated words from both sides, though the Knights ended up the more penalized of the two sides. Colony was flagged for a total of six yellow cards on the game, compared with just one for SoHi.

Adding to Colony's frustration was the fact that forward Timm Fuechtenicht was dropped twice inside the penalty area - including once late in overtime - but wasn't awarded a penalty kick either time.

Following the game, Soldotna midfielder Anthony Griglione said he didn't take any of the rough play personally, and added that he could understand the Knights' frustration at the way the game ended.

&#8220I wouldn't imagine any kids that wouldn't be,” he said.

Griglione said his team was confident coming into the game, and that he actually expected the Stars to score earlier than they did.

&#8220Everyone was playing good, we just couldn't put it into the back of the net,” he said.

For the Knights, the loss was a tough one for a team that has come to expect success at the conference tourney.

&#8220I hate it,” Colony's Jeremy Johnson said. &#8220Soccer is my life. It's very disappointing.”

Johnson said that the loss will give his young team plenty of motivation to have a better showing at next year's tournament.

&#8220That's what I said to the team, ‘Remember how it feels to have your season end this weekend instead of next weekend,'” he said. &#8220I'm going to remember this.”

Although most of Colony's players have at least another year of soccer left, senior Nathan Kowalczk played his final game Saturday. Fighting back tears, the burly midfielder said the loss was a tough one to take because of the program's close-knit nature.

&#8220The boys tried and gave it everything they've got,” he said. &#8220It's just devastating. It just kind of makes your heart sink.”

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com