Warrior boys finish fourth in state tournament

JUNEAU — When Wasilla figured out they’d be without their leading goal-scorer, senior Jake Barber, during the state tournament, head coach Blake Livingston looked to another senior — Ray Keown — to help fill the void.

Keown responded.

The senior striker knocked in the game-winning goal during the final minute of the second overtime period to lift the Wasilla Warriors to a 3-2 win over the West Anchorage Eagles during the consolation semifinals of the ASAA/First National Bank State Soccer Championships at Adair-Kennedy Field in Juneau on Friday.

“He came through when we needed him to,” Livingston said by phone. “That was definitely the biggest goal of his high school career.”

Keown used a header of a Dustin Hout corner kick to record the match-winner and push the Warriors into the tournament’s fourth-place match.

On Saturday, Wasilla finished fourth in the tourney with a 1-0 win over Grace Christian.

“We’re very pleased with where we ended up,” Livingston said. “We have a young team. The future is bright.”

One of its youngest players supplied the lone goal during the win over Grace Christian, a Northern Lights Conference rival. Freshman Kyler Perry scored on a header created by a Paul Sliwa cross.

The Warriors were only able to knock one ball into the Grizzly net, but Livingston was pleased with his team’s play.

“We held possession for most of the game,” Livingston said. “In the first (half), we struggled to link up in the offensive third. In the second, we were able to create more opportunities.”

Livingston estimated that goalkeeper Eli Tingstad needed to make, “one of two key saves,” to record the shutout.

“Our back line held strong,” Livingston said.

Sliwa also scored twice in the win over West on Friday. Sliwa scored at the end of the first half to tie the score at 1. West scored early in the first 10-minute overtime period to take the 2-1 lead, but Sliwa scored again near the end of that period to tie the game at 2.

Livingston said Keown’s header came with about 10 seconds left before the match headed to a sudden death period.

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