Warrior girls score second

SOLDOTNA — Wasilla was down but not out following a 2-1 loss to the Soldotna Stars in the girls’ championship of the Northern Lights Conference Championships at Soldotna High School.

“We accomplished our goal of making it to state,” Wasilla coach Katie Broeder said. “But it would have been a lot sweeter if we had taken that championship title as well.”

The Warriors had to settle for second — and an automatic bid in next week’s state tournament — after SoHi completed a perfect season by rallying from a 1-0 deficit against the Warriors Saturday in a light rain.

Early on, it looked like the Warriors were going to be the first team to hand the Stars a loss. The Warriors controlled the pace from the outset, taking a 1-0 lead after freshman Ashlynn Frizzelle split the SoHi defense, outran goalie Rebecca Satathite and chipped the ball into the net just eight minutes into the game.

“We started out really strong,” Broeder said.

But the Stars, which had only trailed once all season long, finally came to life in the 17th minute when freshman Tessa Tovoli managed to sneak past the Wasilla back line and flick a nifty chip past Wasilla goalie Sammy Becker to tie the score.

“It was a very even game,” Soldotna coach Mike Tovoli said. “Wasilla gave us everything we could handle.”

Wasilla survived a major scare late in the half when SoHi appeared to have won a penalty kick when a Warrior defender was whistled for using her hands to keep a sure goal from going across the line. But instead of a penalty kick (and an automatic red card for the offending player), the Stars only got a “do-over” when referees determined that a previous substitution had not been completed, meaning the play should have never happened.

On the ensuing free kick, Becker made a nice diving save, keeping the score even at 1-1.

Soldotna pulled in front six minutes into the second half, getting a goal from Kaili Sholin on a nice flip past a diving Becker. The goal stood up, as neither team was able to mount much of an attack during an uneven second half that saw far fewer scoring chances than the first. The half was also slowed by a 10-minute stoppage while trainers tended to a Soldotna player who broke her leg.

“It was a weird game, with the 10 minutes of stoppage time and whistles blowing left and right,” Broeder said.

Broeder said the uneven pace of play didn’t have nearly as much to do with the final score as did Wasilla’s inability to finish when they had chances near the net.

“We knew what we needed to do to come in and beat SoHi — who’s undefeated for a reason — but we just didn’t finish, and they’re great at finishing,” Broeder said.

The loss ended a highly-successful weekend for the Warriors that also saw the North Division’s No. 1 seed pick up wins over Homer and Kenai Central.

Freshman Kendra Miner scored Wasilla’s opening goal Friday against the Kardinals, converting on a penalty kick after a Kenai player was called for a hand ball inside the box, 34 minutes into the game.

Kenai’s Casey Coupchiak tied things up with a goal 12 minutes into the second half, but Frizzelle got the game-winner on a feed from Miner in the 56th minute to cement the Warriors’ trip to state.

Broeder said that she believes Wasilla showed over the weekend that they belong among the state’s best teams, and will try to prove that at Anchorage Football Stadium next weekend.

“If the girls come out to play, they’re definitely contenders to vie for a good position in the state tournament,” Broeder said.

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@

frontiersman.com