Prep girls soccer: Warriors suffer pair of losses on Peninsula

SOLDOTNA — Wasilla woke up about an hour too late Saturday morning.

Playing in the 10 a.m. game, the Warriors came out sluggish against the Stars, which scored all three of their goals in the opening 30 minutes of the contest. By the time the Warriors could recover, it was too

late.

“We played a lot better the second half, but we missed two penalty kicks and didn’t shoot the ball very much,” Wasilla coach Katie Broeder said after the 3-1 loss to the Stars.

Sophomore Rachel Kennedy had the lone goal for the Warriors, streaking past the last line of defenders, then putting a move on SoHi goalie Rebecca Satathite to find herself all alone in front of the goal in the game’s 73rd minute.

Soldotna got on the board just eight minutes into the game, picking up a goal from Tessa Tovoli. Becky Warton scored for the Stars in the 18th minute, while Karen Senette got the Stars’ final goal at the 30-minute mark.

“It’s definitely nice to get some goals early like that,” Mike Tovoli said.

he loss ended a disappointing road trip for the Warriors, which also dropped a 1-0 decision to Kenai Central on Friday. Broeder said the road trip showed her team just how tough the Northern Lights Conference is this year, with easy games few and far between.

“They’re tough down here,” Broeder said.

Losing to the Stars shouldn’t make the Warriors hang their heads too much. With Saturday’s win, SoHi moved to a perfect 6-0 on the season, which coach Mike Tovoli credited to his team’s solid work ethic this year.

“I’ve just got a great group of ladies who have been working hard,” Tovoli said.

Despite the loss, Broeder said she saw flashes of good things to come for the Warriors as Saturday’s game wore on. The Warriors were able to force two penalty kicks, and had several good scoring chances late in the game.

“Today I think my girls – even though the score was 3-1 – they played more as a team, which is what we’re working on right

now.”

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