State soccer: Knights rebound with consolation win over Soldotna girls

ANCHORAGE — The Colony Knights are alive to see another day of state tournament play.

“We came in looking for another game,” Colony head coach Lorie Miner said after her team’s 1-0 win over Northern Lights Conference rival Soldotna in the consolation semifinals of the ASAA/First National Bank Alaska State Soccer Championships at Anchorage Football Stadium on Thursday.

Junior Kara Larson scored in the 73rd minute to allow the Knights advance to the bracket’s fourth-place game.

Larson, the NLC Player of the Year, took a pass from fellow junior Tara Garrod and buried a shot in the back of the Soldotna net.

The win was especially sweet for the Knights considering they beat the same Soldotna team that kept them out of the NLC championship match during the conference tournament last week at Soldotna High School.

“We looked at it as an opportunity to seek redemption,” Miner said. “And we did.”

Miner said the Knights took a slightly different approach in the match, then they did during the 2-0 loss to the Stars last week in the NLC semifinals.

Rather than running a 3-5-2 formation (a system that gives a team three defenders, five midfielders and two forwards), Miner said the Knights opted for a 4-4-2.

The shift toward a priority on defense and stellar play from sophomore goalkeeper Katelyn Payne, allowed the Knights to notch the postseason shutout.

“Katelyn Payne played a phenomenal game, and the back line played an awesome game as well,” Miner said.

Miner felt the Knights didn’t give the Stars many opportunities in Soldotna’s offensive end, but also thought her team didn’t take advantage of some quality chances in their offensive zone.

“We were given a couple of opportunities and we didn’t capitalize,” Miner said. “But overall, our performance was really good.”

As important as the win is a day off for the Knights. Colony will be able to rest today before taking the field for the final team this season on Saturday.

Colony now plays the winner of today’s Wasilla-West Valley match in the other consolation semifinal. Juneau-Douglas dealt Wasilla a 2-0 loss on Thursday, while South Anchorage ran past West Valley 5-0 earlier that day.

A Wasilla win over the Wolfpack would set up the third match of the season between Valley rivals Colony and Wasilla. The Mat-Su foes split two matches during the regular season.

The fourth-place match is slated for Saturday at 10 a.m. at AFS.

A fourth-place finish could prove to provide a significant building block for a team that includes 12 underclassmen and only three seniors on the varsity roster.

“To come in and win fourth place would be a good thing for us,” Miner said.

Colony is participating in its first state tournament since 2004.

Service 7, Colony 3

ANCHORAGE — Service scored four times in the first 20 minutes and posted a 7-3 win over Colony during the first round of the state soccer tournament on Wednesday.

Miner felt the match was won with the Cougars’ ability to take the early lead.

“For some reason, when we come in and play an Anchorage team we have this mental block,” Miner said.

Colony scored two of its three goals in the second half, and held a 2-1 advantage during the final 40 minutes of play.

“If we played our second half in the first half, it would have been a different outcome,” Miner said.

Freshman Chelsea Halstead, sophomore Jessica Parker and sophomore Jessica Farrell each scored for Colony.

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