TAKING OFF: Houston girls beginning to soar

HOUSTON — Last season, the Houston Hawks made girls’ soccer school history.

Houston notched its first win over a Valley opponent, a victory, over Palmer.

Last week, the Hawks wanted to show the Northern Lights Conference the 2016 victory was no fluke. Houston answered the challenge with a 2-0 victory over the Moose at Palmer High School. And then Houston followed with a 2-1 win over Lathrop the next morning.

It’s a new generation for Houston girls soccer.

“Houston has always accepted that red-headed stepchild sort of role. They expected to come out and get their butts kicked all of the time,” Houston head coach Steve Day said. “That’s changing now.”

Day said he was thrilled to, not just see his team defeat a Valley rival once again, but beat a pair of teams from schools much longer than Houston High on consecutive days.

“In less than 24 hours, those were two really good wins,” Day said.

Day, in his third season as head coach of the program, said he’s tremendously proud to see the progress the team has made, and the improvement of the players within the program.

“For me, it’s just sort of a validation what we are doing as a coaching staff is the right thing,” Day said. “The kids are starting to believe in the program now.”

Belief and confidence are pivotal, Day said, for a team that was within reach of a region tournament berth last year. In a rematch, Palmer edged Houston during the final stretch of the regular season to clinch the final bid in the NLC North Division. Day said he’s proud to see his team continue to work toward overall improvement, and that goal of reaching the region tournament, despite losing eight seniors to graduation last year. He said he’s also proud to see the work ethic his players have developed, and their desire to get better.

“I know the mentality of the players. They know that they have to train harder to make the team. That can’t just make the team by showing up now,” Day said.

Megan Adair and Denali Whitted each scored during Houston’s 2-0 win over Palmer on April 16. The following morning, Kyla Nicholl and Adair found the back of the net during the victory over Lathrop.

Those wins pushed Houston’s record to 3-2. Houston started its season in early April with a two-game series at Kodiak. The Hawks suffered a 3-2 loss to the Bears in the season-opener. Day said he’s not one to make excuses, but said weather conditions certainly played a factor in the loss.

“The first game it was 28 degrees, pouring down hail, sleet and snow. The wind kicked up to about 25 miles per hour,” Day said. “It was terrible.”

Houston took a 2-0 lead in the match, but it didn’t take long before the cold and wet weather made an impact, Day said.

“When halftime came, the girls were absolutely frozen,” Day said.

Day said he sent two of his top players to the locker room. He was concerned about hypothermia. Kodiak scored three unanswered goals to win.

The following day, Houston posted an 8-1 win over Kodiak.

“The second day, the afternoon sun came out. It was about 45 degrees. No wind,” Day said.

Day said a seven-player freshman class has helped fill the void left by the eight graduated seniors. A number of key veterans also returned. That group includes senior Aspen Ruth, who recently signed her National Letter of Intent to play college soccer at Mount Mary College, an NAIA school in Yankton, South Dakota.

“She’s the backbone of this whole program,” Day said of Ruth. “She’s an experienced player, strong, she knows how to play.”

Another leader is Cassie Kapuniai, who plays in the midfield. Day said Whitted and Nicholl both play club soccer, are also leaders on the squad.

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