Warriors, Knights split soccer series

WASILLA — The calendar said April 18, but recounting his team’s win over rival Colony Tuesday night, Wasilla girls head coach Patrick O’Neill said it certainly didn’t feel like a late-April contest.

Instead, much more like a match typically played in late May.

“It definitely had a playoff rivalry feel to it for sure,” O’Neill said of Wasilla’s 2-0 win over the Knights.

Alia Donley and Abby Crawford each scored to help the defending Northern Lights Conference Warriors stay undefeated in NLC play. Wasilla goalkeeper Olivia Matson kept the Knights scoreless, and helped hand CHS its first girls’ loss of the year.

“It was a hard-fought game, a typical rivalry game,” O’Neill said. “A lot of intensity, fast paced, well played.”

Donley scored late in the first half and Crawford added the insurance goal for the Warriors. O’Neill said Donley’s goal was certainly key.

Moments before the whistle at the end of the first half, Donley knocked in a loose ball to give the Warriors the 1-0 lead. The goal was set up by a Kamryn Broach corner kick.

“It was huge,” O’Neill said of the goal. “I’d say we carried possession a little bit better in the first half.”

O’Neill said the Warriors hit the crossbar twice and Colony goalie Maddy Zmuda came up with a few big saves before Wasilla was able to get on the board with the Donley goal.

In the second half, O’Neill said he felt Colony applied more pressure.

“They took it to us pretty good in the first half of the second half,” O’Neill said.

O’Neill said the Warriors shifted to a more defensive formation later in the game, and was able to get a counter-attack goal to push its lead to a pair.

During the final minutes, Ally Hull drove the ball into the box. After a challenge from Zmuda, the ball got away and Crawford was able to punch it in for a score.

Colony 5, Wasilla 0

The Colony Knights earned a 5-0 shutout victory over the Wasilla boys Tuesday night.

Sullivan Menard, Noah Krozel, Kyle Dearborn, Martin Jones and Michael Sliwa all scored in the Knights victory. Each of the goals came in the first half.

Grace Christian 2, Palmer 1

The Grace Christian boys scored a 2-1 win over Palmer on Tuesday.

Thomas Youngblood scored the lone goal for the Moose. Isaiah Montoya grabbed the assist.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.