Valley teams fall in state soccer quarterfinals

EAGLE RIVER — The quarterfinal round was not kind to the three Valley squads that qualified for the state soccer tournaments.

The Colony boys lost a heartbraker, and the Colony and Wasilla girls teams were on the wrong end of lopsided matches during the first day of the ASAA/First National Bank State Soccer Championships, Thursday in Eagle River.

In boys’ action, Kenai’s Zack Tuttle scored in the 57th minute to lead the Kardinals to a 2-1 win over Colony, a Northern Lights Conference rival.

The meeting was the second that paired the conference rivals in less than a week. Kenai beat Colony 3-1 in the NLC title match May 21 in Kenai.

Thursday, the Kards took an early lead, using a Draiden McMinn tally to grab the 1-0 advantage in the 11th minute. Colony senior Ben Sande tied the score at 1 with a goal in the 52nd minute.

With the loss, Colony will face West Valley Friday at 6 p.m. in the consolation semifinals in Eagle River.

Earlier in the day, Mid-Alaska Conference girls’ champion West Valley blanked Colony 7-0. Dimond, the top seed from the Cook Inlet Conference, beat the Wasilla girls 5-1.

Alexis Friesen scored the lone goal for Wasilla.

The losses set up an all-Valley consolation semifinal match. Colony and Wasilla will meet in an elimination game today at noon at Eagle River High.