Speed kills in Moose win

JEREMIAH BARTZ/ Frontiersman sports editor

PALMER - Speed can be the antidote to a stellar defense.

The Palmer High School boys soccer team proved that.

Led by the effort of lightning-fast forward Devon Conroy, the Moose cruised to a 4-1 win over Wasilla, in the consolation finals of the Northern Lights Conference Tournament at Colony High School.

Conroy has made plays with his legs throughout his junior season, and continued to Saturday. He scored three goals against, arguably, the top defensive team in the conference and helped the Moose claim a spot in the Alaska Schools Activities Association State Championship Tournament.

"Tournaments are a time for the big players to step up and Conroy had his "A" game for sure," Palmer head coach Tom Harrison said.

Conroy posted a pair of goals in the first half and converted a penalty kick in the second.

Palmer tied the score at 1-1 early in the first half with Conroy's first goal of the game. Ben Beetch booted a long ball down the field, and Conroy sprinted after the ball, toward the Wasilla goal. Warrior goalkeeper Joe Hunner came out to challenge Conroy, and the Palmer junior smacked a header toward the goal, right before colliding with Hunner. With Conroy and Hunner both lying on the turf, the ball slowly rolled to the back of the net.

Later in the half, Conroy tapped in the rebound of a Rory Egelus shot to give the Moose a 2-1 advantage. Egelus sprinted toward the right side of the field, and ,while sliding, sent a shot to the left side of the Warrior goal. Hunner made the save, but deflected the ball right in front of the net. Conroy flew in, and tapped the loose ball into the goal.

With eight minutes remaining in the second half, Conroy took the ball and raced up field, splitting a pair of Warrior defenders. On the play, Conroy drew a penalty. He slipped the ensuing free kick just under the hands of a diving Hunner.

In the final minutes of the game, Beetch put a header into the Warrior net.

Harrison said Conroy's speed did allow the Moose to put a tremendous amount of pressure on a talented Warrior defense, but the Moose offense was able to do a variety of things with the ball.

"We always try to keep (Devon) pressured up on the line of the last defender, so he can have the opportunities to stretch them out on the balls that break through," Harrison said. "But it was not just the breakaways. We had some pretty nice goals on the combination plays through the middle. It is nice to see that part of the game coming together."

Palmer also got another sterling performance from goalkeeper Trenton Berberich.

"He's rock solid, and technically very gifted," Harrison said. "He had his head in the game, and I think he was ready to go to state."

Berberich was just inches from notching a shutout. Two minutes into the action, Wasilla sophomore Jeff Champion sent a rocket shot from just beyond the Palmer net. Berberich made, what appeared to be, a clean save, but the referees ruled he was just inside the goal line. Champion was given the goal.

"It was from, like, four feet away," Harrison said. "To even make a chance like he did, is a testament to his skill."

Palmer moved into the consolation finals after dropping a 4-3 decision to Colony in the semifinals on Friday. The Moose were down 3-0 at one point, but scored three times in the second half to tie the score. Colony posted the game-winner with just two minutes remaining in regulation.

"We struggled in the first half, but were strong in the second. I thought that was a good momentum thing, going into today," Harrison said. "Even though we lost, I didn't feel too bad about it, because Colony is such a strong team."

Palmer also scored three second-half goals in a 4-2, come-from-behind win over Homer in the first round. Jared Berberich, Sam Hard and Jerry Melin each scored in the second half to lead the Moose over the Mariners.

Wasilla suffered a heart-breaking 2-1 loss to Skyview in the semifinals. Junior Vladimir Dahl scored with two minutes remaining in regulation to tie the score at 1-1. After Wasilla and Skyview played a pair of scoreless 10-minute overtime periods, the Panthers' Kyle Eshleman scored in a five-minute sudden-death overtime period to give Skyview the win. Prior to the Warriors' loss to Palmer, Skyview had been the only team all season to defeat Wasilla (7-3-5).