Valley soccer squads win in Fairbanks; Palmer girls tie Kodiak

WASILLA — Last season, after Colony, Wasilla and West Valley finished in a three-way tie at the top of the Railbelt Conference girls soccer standings, the Knights ended up falling short of an automatic berth to the Division I state tournament.

Over the weekend, the Knights took a step toward possibly avoiding potential tiebreakers. Colony improved to 4-0-1 with a 2-1 win over West Valley, which earned a state tourney berth last year along with Wasilla. The victory came a day after the Knights blanked Lathrop 4-0. Gabby Wakaliuk earned the natural hat trick for the Knights against Lathrop. Amber Richardson scored her team’s fourth goal. Samantha Johnstone finished with three assists.

Wasilla girls goalkeeper Aleks Kvalheim enjoyed a stellar weekend, posting three straight shutouts during Wasilla’s stay in the Interior. Wasilla beat Lathrop 4-0 on Saturday. Alexis Friesen, Bree Drorbaugh and Reese Sande scored for Wasilla against the Malemutes.

The Warriors were forced to settle for a scoreless tie against West Valley on Friday. Wasilla beat North Pole 6-0 on Thursday. Friesen led Wasilla with a pair of goals. Sande, Raeley Carney, Kiara Shane and Darci Matson also scored.

In boys’ action, Colony beat Lathrop 7-1 on Friday. Noah Krozel finished with a hat trick. Shawn McMillan, Kyle Dearborn, Eli Krozel and Hunter Wakaliuk also scored.

The Colony boys tied West Valley 1-1 on Saturday.

The Wasilla boys edged North Pole 2-1 on Thursday, and suffered a 3-0 loss to West Valley Friday.

Palmer girls tie Kodiak

The Palmer girls followed a scoreless tie against Kodiak with a wild 4-4 tie against the Bears Saturday afternoon at Machetanz Field in Palmer.

Catherine Uschmann and Delaney Shults each scored a pair of goals for the Moose. Uschmann found the back of the net during the 49th minute to give Palmer a 2-1 lead and converted a penalty kick two minuete later to extend Palmer’s lead.

Kodiak took the first lead at the 31st minute, and Shults tied the score six minutes later. Shults also gave Palmer a 4-3 lead during the 65th minute. Kodiak forced the tie with a penalty kick in the 76th minute.

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