Ready to play

MAT-SU — There was a time when the Colony Knights were a virtual lock for the state tournament.

After advancing to the state tournament in each of the first five years — 2000 through 2004 — ASAA hosted a sanctioned soccer tourney, the Knights have missed the event in each of the last three seasons.

Colony head coach Lorie Miner feels the Knights have a group of athletes who can propel Colony back into the state tournament.

“I believe so,” Miner said. “But we’ve said that for the last couple of years. We haven’t pulled together as a team.”

Depth and a load of young talent could help break Colony’s three-year streak without a state tourney berth.

“Our depth looks pretty good, with the starting 11 we have and four or five more coming off the bench,” Miner said.

Making up much of that depth are players from talented sophomore and junior classes.

Among the leaders are juniors Tara Murray, Tara Garrod and Kara Larson, as well as sophomores Jessica Farrell and Katie Gonski.

The sophomore class also includes goalkeeper Katelyn Payne and midfielder Sara Kenley.

The Knights lost only three players to graduation, but those players left a big void on Colony’s back line.

To fill that void, Miner and her coaching staff will look to players such as junior Brandy Day, sophomore Shannon Heimerl and sophomore Jessica Parker, who is in her first year with the program.

“We’ll be relying on those three,” Miner said.

The Knights are the lone Valley team to have played an official match so far. Earlier this month, Colony traveled to Juneau to face the Crimson Bears in a two-match series.

The Bears swept the Knights, but Colony was able to get a good idea of what the Knights need to work on.

“You can’t just practice, practice, practice. You never know what to fix,” said Miner, who normally takes her team to Juneau early in the season. “This tells us what we need to change, what’s going to work.”

While the Knights have missed three straight state tourneys, the Palmer Moose have advanced to three straight state tournaments.

Now the Moose feel they have the talent to make it four in a row.

Leading the charge is junior forward Tess Anderson, who scored a team-high 13 goals last year.

“She’s always been a leader by example,” Palmer head coach Brian Fish said.

Also up front is senior Jessica Wyckoff, who also has the tendency to put the ball in the net.

Wyckoff played in the midfield as a junior, but Fish said he expects to move the versatile senior around this year.

“We moved her back into the midfield which limited her opportunities in the attacking half,” Fish said.

Senior Claire Woodings, junior Julie Manglesdorf and sophomore Shea Riggs will be among Palmer’s top defensive players, Fish said.

Palmer also has veteran keep Chelsea Beetch back.

Overall, Fish expects Palmer to be a pretty well-rounded team.

“We’re deeper than we’ve been in the past,” Fish said.

Wasilla also advanced to the state tournament last year, reaching the final event for the second time in three seasons.

The Warriors lost seven seniors from that 2007 squad, but head coach Katie Broeder feels the Warriors have the parts to replace the lost pieces.

Wasilla also returns several key players, athletes such as Randi Smith, Wasilla’s leading scorer in 2007.

Also back is sophomore Rachel Kennedy, who with Smith will give Wasilla a speedy attack.

Also back is junior sweeper Tabor Tingstad, who’ll anchor the defense in front of first-year varsity goalkeeper Sammy Becker.

“She’s really new to the position, but she’s doing a very good job,” Broeder said. “More than we could ask.”

While the Warriors have a first-year keeper in net, Houston’s top veteran will guard the Hawks’ goal.

Jen Gardner, Houston’s lone senior, is among 18 athletes on the HHS squad, second-year head coach Mary Sanford said.

That number is up from last year, thanks in part to a solid group of underclassmen.

“It’s a pretty fresh start,” Sanford said. “Lots of new players.”

Veterans such as Gardner, junior Kacey Newman and junior Ariel Katzenberger will lead a group of underclassmen that includes sophomores Amy Orth and Jessica Origer.

All four of the Valley teams were slated to be in action this weekend, but a recent snowfall may spoil those plans. Sanford said a game against Seward has already been canceled, and the Hawks hope to start the season April 24 against Soldotna at HHS.

Wasilla is supposed to host West Valley on Thursday, while Colony is scheduled to host Lathrop the same day. Palmer is scheduled to play Lathrop on Friday. All could be canceled depending on field conditions.

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