Soccer preview: 6 returning starters lead Wasilla girls into season

WASILLA — The Wasilla Warriors girls’ soccer squad entered the 2018 season in a unique position.

Wasilla returned six starters, including a pair of three-year starters, but there is not a senior among them.

“It’s good, but it’s also challenging,” Wasilla head coach Patrick O’Neill said recently. “(It’s) a really strong group. The biggest question is who is going to step into that leadership role.”

Wasilla graduated eight seniors from a squad that finished as the Northern Lights Conference runner-up and advanced to the state tournament last year. On the positive side, as Wasilla looks for the leaders on the turf, the Warriors have plenty of skill and experience as they adapt to that change.

“The luxury is there is that much skill. These are year-round soccer players, dedicated soccer players,” O’Neill said. “To me, it’s a matter of who steps into the leadership position.”

Leading the way for Wasilla are a pair of three-year starters, juniors Alexis Friesen and Abby Crawford. Friesen, a midfielder, has already committed to Division I Nevada-Reno. Crawford excelled at forward as an underclassman, but will be used in more of a defensive role as a junior, O’Neill said. Wasilla also returns four sophomores — Reese Sande, Shayla Donley, Kamryn Broach and Nicole Catlett — who started as freshmen last season.

Sande scored 33 goals and was named the NLC Player of the Year.

Another key player, O’Neill said, is Emily Summers. Last year, Summers was the first player of the bench. Now a junior, Summers is in the starting lineup.

O’Neill also noted seniors Leanna Malak and Maclaren Obremski, and freshman Taylin Fraker. Malak was a reserve last year, but will start this season. Obremeski, a Wasilla High girls’ basketball standout, brings a toughness to the turf, O’Neill said. Fraker opened her first year of high school soccer as a starter on the defensive end.

Junior Aleks Kvalheim is Wasilla’s starting goalkeeper.

On the boys’ side, after a full season on the sidelines, former Wasilla High soccer standout Paul Sliwa is feeling good about his second season as head coach of the Warriors.

“Things are looking good,” Sliwa said earlier this week.

Wasilla started the season 1-1, with a 2-0 victory over a Chugiak and a 3-0 loss to South Anchorage, the defending state champion. Even in the loss, Sliwa said he saw good things.

“I felt like we played well. I wasn’t upset with the way we played,” Sliwa said.

Between the win over Chugiak and a scrimmage against Palmer, Sliwa said he’s been able to gauge where his Warriors are early in the 2018 season.

“Overall, we’re looking better than we were last year,” Sliwa said.

Sliwa said the Warriors have been sparked by the return of senior Ryan Polis, who missed most of the 2017 season, and the arrival of newcomer Eric Dean.

“He’s now back and healthy. Definitely the leader of this team,” Sliwa said of Polis.

Dean, a junior, moved from Texas to Wasilla during the offseason.

“He’s passionate about the game,” Sliwa said of Dean, who will play in the center back position. “He gets guys fired up with his drive to win.”

Polis and Dennis Gerasimyuk are Wasilla’s captains this year. Gerasimyuk, a center midfielder, wins a lot of 50-50 balls, Sliwa said.

“He’s got great dribbling, passing ability. He can see the pass, really pick out guys,” Sliwa said.

Villi Savchuk, another center midfielder, is also key for the Warriors, Sliwa said. Gavin Barnes is Wasilla’s starting goalkeeper.

Sliwa also noted Hudson Horwath, who made the jump from junior varsity to varsity starter last year. Eric Kolosov will team with Dean in the center backfield, Sliwa said.

New conference

Wasilla is now in the Division I Railbelt Conference following the offseason reclassification of soccer. The conference also includes Colony, Lathrop and West Valley. There will be no regional tournament, and the conference’s two bids to the Division I state tournament will be based on final conference standings.

Each team plays a six-game conference schedule, with home and away matches against each conference opponent.

“I loved the regional tournament, it was something special,” Sliwa said. “Anything can happen in a regional tournament. We’ll lose some of that. We’ll see how that works out.”

O’Neill said, with just a four-team conference, there’s little room for error.

“The conference games are so much more important,” O’Neill said.

The Warriors open conference play at home Friday against West Valley. The girls play at 5 p.m., with the boys to follow at 7 p.m.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.