Warrior girls get past Nikiski, tough Bulldogs goalkeeper

WASILLA — As the Wasilla Warriors put on a shooter’s display, Nikiski junior Rachel Thompson was busy putting on a goalkeeper’s clinic.

Despite finishing with about 30 shots on net, Wasilla had to settle for only three goals during a 3-0 win over Nikiski in the first round of the Northern Lights Conference Championships at Wasilla High School Thursday afternoon.

Alia Donnely, Alexa Starr and Ally Hull each scored to help Wasilla earn the win, and move into the NLC semifinals, where the Warriors will face Kenai Friday at WHS. But the goals didn’t come easy for the Warriors, the top seed in the NLC North.

“We had about a dozen shots that would have probably scored on other goalies,” Wasilla head coach Patrick O’Neill said after the win. “We knew coming in she’s the top goalie, in maybe the state. She’s phenomenal.”

O’Neill, happy to get the win and move ahead, said he’s certainly not surprised by the 3-0 score.

“I had a feeling it was going to be a lower scoring game that most people thought based on the seeds and the records,” O’Neill said.

Nikiski entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed from the South Division.

Knowing Nikiski was the opponent, O’Neill said the Warriors worked throughout the week on a game plan to have success against Thompson, a past NLC Player of the Year.

“We talked about it before the game, about keeping shots on her, keeping shots low, try to get in the box on her,” O’Neill said. “She’s so good from outside, you’re not going to beat her from a distance. The goal was to get in deep, work the ball around and make it hard on her.”

O’Neill said the Warriors’ possession style of play helped Wasilla’s cause.

“We knew possessing the ball is kind of our style,” O’Neill said.

Wasilla was able to strike early. Donnely, in the center of the box, took a feed from Lydia Phillips from the left side of the field. Donnely was able to beat Thompson to give Wasilla the 1-0 lead.

During the 24th minute, Wasilla’s leading scorer, junior Alexa Starr, scored a highlight reel worthy goal to give the Warriors the 2-0 lead. Starr dribbled inside the left side of the box, and ripped a shot high, just underneath the crossbar, over the reach of Thompson.

“That was a matchup I was personally looking forward to, a big-time goal scorer against a big-time goalkeeper,” O’Neill said of the Thompson versus Starr matchup. “That’s a top one or two field player in the region going up against definitely the top goalie.”

Hull gave the Warriors a 3-0 lead with a goal in the 53rd minute.

With the win, Wasilla moves forward to play Kenai in the NLC semifinals. Kenai advanced with a 5-0 win over Colony Thursday.

O’Neill said Wasilla is looking forward to playing Kenai, a team that edged Wasilla 1-0 on the Warriors’ recent road trip to the Peninsula.