Prep girls soccer: Second-half scores lead Moose to win

PALMER — The Palmer Moose are going to stay very busy in the next two weeks.

With eight games in the next 10 days, Monday proved to be a good day to get a victory.

And the Moose did exactly that.

Thanks to three goals in the second half, Palmer secured a 3-1 win over the Wasilla Warriors at Palmer High’s Machetanz Field on Monday.

Junior Tess Anderson scored twice and sophomore Shea Riggs posted a goal as the Moose improved to 1-1-1.

Freshman Kendra Miner scored for Wasilla (3-2-0).

After a scoreless first half, Palmer reached the back of the net twice within a 12-minute span to take the 2-0 lead early in the first half.

“We made some adjustments and talked about a few things at the half, which I think helped us and settled us in a little bit better” Palmer head coach Brian Fish said. “The girls came out and responded well in the second half.”

Riggs, sprinting down the field on a Palmer rush, sent a hard kick into the upper corner of the net in the 44th minute to give the Moose the lead.

Anderson followed 12 minutes later with the first of her two goals. The sophomore forward used her speed to sprint up the left sidelines and beat the Palmer defense.

Anderson added an insurance goal for the Moose in 77th minute.

Wasilla was able to cut Palmer’s lead in half soon after Anderson’s first score.

Two minutes after Anderson gave the Moose the 2-0 lead, Wasilla freshman Kendra Miner put the Warriors on the scoreboard.

Set up by a sharp pass from sophomore Rachel Kennedy, Miner worked her way deep into the zone and was able to push the ball past Palmer goalkeeper Chelsea Beetch.

About two minutes later the pair of underclassmen nearly connected on a similar play.

Led by the likes of Miner, Kennedy and senior Randi Smith, Wasilla was able to apply consistent pressure on the Palmer defense in the first half, and seemed to own the 10 minutes that preceded the intermission.

“They were bringing quite a bit of pressure, especially late in the first half,” Fish said. “We were worried about that.”

The Palmer win opens the stretch in which the Moose will play eight of their 11 regular season games. Palmer’s 10-day stretch of virtual nonstop soccer continues today when the Moose head to the north end of the Valley to face Houston. The travel continues later this week when Palmer takes a three-day tour of the Kenai Peninsula. Following road games against Nikiski, Homer and Skyview, Palmer returns to the Valley to face Valley rivals Wasilla, Colony and Houston.

Wasilla also heads south this weekend with games scheduled at Kenai and Soldotna. The Warriors return home to face the Moose at Veterans Memorial Field on May 12.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.