Stars need rally to get by Palmer boys; Soldotna girls blank Moose

SOLDOTNA — After coming back to tie the game from a two-goal deficit, Soldotna’s boys could have been satisfied with a draw. But a come-from-behind victory over a Northern Lights Conference foe is so much sweeter.

The Stars’ Daniel Koch netted the game-winning goal in the waning minutes of Friday’s game between SoHi and Palmer to give his team a 6-5 win.

Cory Carver put a long shot on net. Palmer’s keeper didn’t field the ball cleanly and Koch buried the rebound with less than five minutes to play.

“I was looking for the bounce-off all game, and finally got it,” Koch said. “Cory just made a nice, low shot,” said SoHi’s Blaine Carver. “Koch was in the right spot and was able to finish.”

Midway through the second half, Blaine knotted the game at 5-all on a penalty kick. A Palmer hand ball in the box put SoHi’s top player in the penalty-kick situation. Blaine put the ball in the lower right corner for his third goal of the game.

“Blaine Carver is extremely dangerous,” Palmer head coach Kevin Dearborn said.

Despite the loss, Dearborn said he was proud his team played a close game with the Stars.

“We were in a position to get a win,” he said. “That’s definitely a step forward for us.”

The Moose took a 5-4 lead just three minutes prior to Blaine’s third tally with a penalty kick of their own. Palmer’s Piers LaFrance was upended while running for a loose ball in SoHi’s box. Daniel Horowitz took the free kick, putting it in the lower right-hand corner of the goal.

The Moose jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, scoring both goals within the first eight minutes. A minute after Aube Strickland scored Palmer’s second tally, SoHi’s Robbie Smithwick cut the lead in half. Palmer regained a two-goal cushion on a strike from Zach Zegydryn in the 24th minute.

Smithwick again answered back.

Ian Buffington lobbed a shot toward the net. The ball hit traffic in front and Smithwick pounded it inside the left post for his second of the game.

The goal came four minutes after Zegydryn’s tally.

Blaine launched a long-range shot in the upper right corner in the 32nd minute to tie the game 3-3 at the half.

The Stars’ resilience enabled them to be in a position to win the game.

“Anytime a team can come back from 2-0, it just shows that the team wants to win,” SoHi head coach Jeff Siemers said.

“Once we did get down 2-0, we just played a lot harder,” Blaine said.

“We just stayed strong,” Koch added.

Blaine added his second goal of the game in the 50th minute to give SoHi its first lead. He outworked a host of Moose for the ball, then nailed a shot in the upper left corner from the right side of the field.

Palmer’s Sean Tanner responded three minutes later to tie the game at 4.

The high-scoring affair was a surprise to Siemers.

“I wasn’t expecting an 11-goal day, especially with the weather and the wet field,” he said. “It was more of an offensive battle than a defensive battle.”

A brief hailstorm during the first half of the earlier girls game left a water-soaked field for the boys.

Stars blank Palmer girls

SOLDOTNA — A pre-game hailstorm didn’t slow down the Stars. Six different players scored goals to lead SoHi past the Moose 6-0 in Friday NLC action at Soldotna.

Hail started falling during warmups, leaving behind a slush-filled field strewn with puddles.

“It was pretty horrible,” said SoHi’s Kaili Sholin. “It was really slippery. The ball just rolled everywhere. It was hard to get a good touch.”

But as any Alaska soccer player knows, the elements are typically a factor in the last sports season of the school year. Despite the poor conditions, SoHi netted three first-half goals.

“We got through it,” Stars head coach Mike Tovoli said.

Tessa Tovoli , Emily Rohloff and Casey Coupchiak all scored in the first half. Tovoli’s tally came in the 17th minute, Rohloff scored in the 29th minute and Coupchiak found the back of the net two minutes later.

The Stars controlled the game and the ball for most of the match.

“The key today was possession and passing,” coach Tovoli said. Sholin agreed.

“We had good possession and good passing,” she said.

The lack of possession led to few offensive scoring chances for the Moose.

“It would have been nice if we had tested their keeper,” Palmer head coach Harmony Chadwick said. “Our girls came up a little flat. We’re not playing with very much confidence right now.”

Though the Stars had a solid performance, Palmer was not at its best, Chadwick said.

“They’re a good team, but we’re not that bad,” she said.

Sholin started the second half fast, scoring in the 42nd minute. She gave a pass to Coupchiak, who tapped it right back to Sholin. Palmer’s keeper blocked the initial shot, but Sholin got her own rebound and chipped it in the upper left corner.

Jenna Redford gave the Stars a five-goal cushion less than 10 minutes later.

Freshman Emily Schneider rounded out the scoring in the 66th minute. Sholin gave Schneider a pass to the middle of the field at the top of the box. Schneider put a low shot past the keeper for a 6-0 lead.

The score could have been more lopsided, but Palmer’s keeper made several saves in the second half to prevent the game from turning into a shellacking.

“The keeper did a nice job,” coach Tovoli said.

Coach Tovoli said he’s impressed with the play of his entire team through the early part of the short season.

“I just can’t say enough about all of the girls,” he said. “I’m looking forward to see what the girls can do over the next two weeks.”