Warriors get wins over Hawks

The Wasilla Warriors met the Houston Hawks in boys' and girls' soccer matches Tuesday at Anchorage Football Stadium, enjoying a dry field on the artificial turf and sunshine that finally gave a glimpse of spring.

The Wasilla girls defeated the Hawks in the opening game, scoring four goals to win their conference opener 4-0.

"We're still trying to find an identity -- our style of play," said Wasilla coach Tony Jensen. "We learned some things to improve on from the Juneau games."

Emilie Ebenal and Christie Hayes scored two goals each for the Warriors, with each player also picking up an assist.

Becky Hesselbach and Cheyanne Gillman each assisted on a goal.

With the majority of school soccer fields just now dry enough to play on, many early games have been played on artificial turf in Anchorage or in Juneau.

Ebenal and Hayes both said they like playing on the artificial surface once they got used to it.

"I like it because there are no holes and no puddles -- you know what the ball is going to do," Ebenal said.

The game marked the first Region III match for Wasilla and its first win of the season. The Warriors fell to Juneau Douglas in two games played last week in Juneau.

The Wasilla boys' team looked sharp with their 11-0 win over the Houston Hawks. The game was the first of the season for both teams.

"It was a good first game, but we definitely have room for improvement," said Wasilla coach Blake Livingston. "We had a lot of positives in the match."

The Warriors controlled much of the tempo, keeping the ball in the Houston zone throughout most of the game. The Wasilla defense blanketed its zone to deny penetration of Houston attackers and keep the ball on the Houston side of the field. The Hawks were only able to mount one serious charge at the Wasilla goal, but it was quickly thwarted.

Wasilla was able to capitalize on effective passing, moving the ball down the field and setting up shots from the outside.

"We did a fairly good job of working the outside space," Livingston said. "This opened up the middle of the field and allowed us to get the ball in."

This tactic allowed attackers to roam inside and maneuver for open shots in front of the Houston goal. Wasilla used a variety of kicks to score - with cuts to the goal set up from corner kicks, long shots that sailed over the Houston goalkeeper and into the goal and fancy footwork by Clint Morehouse to get by two defenders and send a shot in for a goal.

The Warriors wasted few opportunities to score early in the game, jumping to a 6-0 lead by halftime.

With the big halftime lead, Livingston guarded against a Wasilla letdown in the second half.

"At halftime we talked about staying focused on playing good fundamental soccer," Livingston said.

The Warriors continued the solid play through the second half, pouring in five additional goals while controlling the ball throughout.

Loren Smith scored four goals and added an assist in the game, with Morehouse scoring two goals. Thomas Craig contributed two assists in the Warriors' effort.

"This was a good team effort," Livingston said. "Everyone contributed to this win."