Sophomore’s hat trick leads Knights past Warriors

PALMER — For nearly four years, Wasilla’s senior class had been just about perfect against its Northern Lights Conference North Division foes.

But the streak ended Tuesday. Colony sophomore Gabby Wakaliuk bagged a natural hat trick in the first half to lead the Knights to a 4-1 win over the Warriors at Colony High School.

“We were 20-0-1 since those seniors were freshmen. We’d beat Grace, Colony, Palmer, Houston every time,” Wasilla head coach Patrick O’Neill said.

O’Neill said the Warriors, the defending NLC champions, knew their conference rivals would be gunning for them. And Tuesday, the Warriors were tagged with a rare loss to a division rival.

“We definitely didn’t have our energy. But I’m not going to make excuses. They beat us,” O’Neill said.

Colony head coach Jeremy Johnson was elated to see his squad have success against its rival.

“I know it’s been awhile,” Johnson said.

Colony also used the victory to rebound from a 2-0 loss to Wasilla less than two weeks ago. Johnson said the difference between the two matches against Wasilla was style of play and capitalizing on opportunites.

“We were able to finish our chances. Last time we had a few chances, and we didn’t finish,” Johnson said. “We were able to capitalize on the opportunities we had. We didn’t have a ton of opportunities, but we capitalized.”

O’Neill’s narrative paralleled Johnson’s.

“They scored on the chances they had,” O’Neill said. “We didn’t finish our opportunities.”

Defense and the counter attack were also key for the Knights.

“We hunkered in,” Johnson said. “Bending, not breaking, trying to counter attack. We got the goals that way. Basically counter-attack goals.”

Johnson said that’s exactly what the Knights needed to do against a Wasilla squad known for its speed and skill.

“We had to get used to Wasilla’s speed of play. They’re a quality side,” Johnson said. “They have a lot of speed and move the ball quickly. Their speed along with their speed of play is tough to deal with.”

Wakaliuk scored goals in the 10th, 17th and 22nd minutes to give the Knights the 3-0 halftime lead. After giving her squad the early advantage, Wakaliuk chipped a left-footed volley into the corner off a through ball.

In the 22nd minute, Stirling Elliott used a long throw-in to move the ball to Sahara Iverson, who set a pass across the field to the far post. Wakaliuk was there to tap in the goal.

Colony’s biggest goal, arguably, came in the second half. After Alia Donley put the Warriors on the scoreboard, Kira Fagerstrom knocked in a goal off a corner kick to give the Knights the 4-1 advantage.

“It was huge for us. It was 3-1. They get the next goal, obviously, we’re in a one-goal match. They had the wind and were giving it to us,” Johnson said. “Then we came down and had that beautiful corner kick. We’ve been working on them the last few weeks and it paid off.”

With the win, Colony moves ahead of Wasilla in the race of the NLC North’s No. 1 seed in the NLC Championships, which is hosted by Colony this year. Even though Wasilla beat Colony earlier, only Tuesday’s match counts toward division standings. O’Neill said the Warriors, who will now work for the No. 2 seed in the division, will work for, and hope for, a rematch against the Knights in the NLC tournament.

“I told (the players) we’re set up for a really good rubber match if everything goes right,” O’Neill said.

Colony boys score win over Warriors

Noah Krozel didn’t waste time Tuesday night.

The Colony sophomore scored the first of his two goals in the first minute to lead the Knights to a 5-1 win over Wasilla Tuesday night at Colony High.

Michael Shower, Logan Curtis and Ethan Overland also scored for the Knights. Wasilla scored on a penalty kick in the second half.

Grace girls edge Moose

The Palmer girls, playing in their fourth match in six days, fell just short in Anchorage Tuesday.

Grace Christian edged the Moose 2-1 at Anchorage Football Stadium. Gurpreet Kaur Singh scored the lone goal for Palmer.

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