Prep girls soccer: Mariners edge Moose for crown

May 27, 2007

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

WASILLA - Three must be the Homer Mariners' lucky number.

Three games. Three goals. Three wins.

Homer won its third Northern Lights Conference title in four years with a 1-0 win over Palmer at Wasilla High School on Tuesday.

The win marked Homer's third straight one-goal game that ended with a win.

&#8220It only takes one when you have a shutout,” Homer head coach Mickey Todd joked after the win.

Sophomore Teal Laukitis knocked in a short shot off a rebound in the game's 78th minute to account for the game's lone score.

With the game seemingly destined for overtime, the young forward took advantage of chaos in front of the Moose net, and snuck a shot by Palmer's sturdy goalkeeper Chelsea Beetch.

Claire Siekaniec, who was named the NLC Player of the Year for the second straight year after the tourney - set up the goal with a long corner kick.

Junior Gillian Baran-Maryott redirected the Siekaniec kick, a shot that was saved by Beetch. But after the initial save, Beetch became tangled up with Baran-Maryott and Laukitis popped in the loose ball.

In an evenly played match, both teams had chances on goal. But it Laukitis who was able to capitalize.

&#8220That's all it took,” said Laukitis, who netted just her second goal of the season in the win. &#8220It was wonderful.”

Palmer had a series of chances late in the game that could have given the Moose the region crown.

&#8220Both teams had some good opportunities,” Palmer head coach Brian Fish said. &#8220We certainly had quite a few in the second half that we didn't take advantage of.”

Forwards Tess Anderson and Ashley Swetzof put hard shots on net, and it took the work of a member of the Homer back line to keep a Jessica Wyckoff shot out of the net.

In the 73rd minute, after a long throw-in by Swetzof, Wyckoff redirected the ball toward the Homer net. Even though Homer keeper Kathryn McCarron was out of position, sophomore Danilee Stapel was there to clear the ball away from the net.

That play was an example of what it took for Homer to win the title - defense.

Strangely enough, Todd said, Homer has not been known as strictly a defensive team. Before a scoring drought near the end of the season, Todd said, the Mariners had put 33 shots in the back of the opponent's net.

Palmer used a shootout win over Skyview and a tough one-goal victory over Soldotna to move into the NLC title game.

Wyckoff, Krysta Theisen and Claire Woodings each converted penalty kicks in the 2-1 win over Skyview in the conference quarterfinals. Swetzof scored twice in a 2-1 win over Soldotna in the semifinals, a game that gave Palmer a state tournament berth for the third consecutive year.

Homer used a Siekaniec penalty kick in the 29th minute to edge Colony 1-0 in the first round, and Siekaniec scored in the 12th minute to lead Homer to 1-0 win over Wasilla in the semifinals.

All eight games in the girls' bracket were decided by one goal.

&#8220I think the parity in league has gotten so much better,” Todd said. &#8220One goal makes a difference now. Before one goal wasn't really safe.”

Palmer 2, Soldotna 1

Ashley Swetzof scored a pair of goals to lead the Moose to a 2-1 semifinal win over the Soldotna Stars on Friday at the Bumpus Ballfields.

Soldotna scored an early goal to take an initial lead, but Swetzof struck twice within a six-minute span in the second half to lead her team to the win.

&#8220She's a bigger, stronger kid and we just needed her to get in there and start creating some opporuntities,” Palmer head coach Brian Fish said.

In the 59th minute, following a Claire Woodings indirect kick, Swetzof muscled her way through a group of players in front of the net, found the loose ball and popped it into the net.

In the 65th minute, Swetzof caused a turnover in the midfield and drove the ball down toward the Soldotna net. Stars goalkeeper Becky Warton dove toward Swetzof to make a play on the ball, but the agile junior was able to step aside and get the shot by.

&#8220Ashley showed a little fire today,” Fish said. &#8220She was able to create opportunities, take advantage and finish them.”

Jenni Stenga scored in the 21st minute to give the Stars the initial lead.

Palmer 2, Skyview 1 (shootout)

Palmer earned a spot in the semifinals with a 2-1 shootout victory over the Skyview Panthers Friday afternoon.

Krysta Theisen, Jessica Wyckoff and Claire Woodings each converted penalty kicks for the Moose in the shootout, and goalie Chelsea Beetch stopped two Skyview tries to preserve the win.

The game ended up in a shootout after Skyview's Claudiii Sohns scored in the 79th minute of regulation to tie the score at 1-1.

Palmer had led the game since the 13th minute, when forward Tess Anderson headed in an Ashley Swetzof throw-in to stake the Moose to a 1-0 lead.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com. Reporter Matt Tunseth contributed to this story.