Wasilla boys score weekend soccer sweep

SOLDOTNA — They might have a few extra bumps or bruises, but the Wasilla Warriors came back to the Mat-Su Valley Saturday night with three key victories.

Wasilla capped its three-day stay on the Kenai Peninsula with a 3-0 win over Soldotna on Saturday.

“We feel like we’re headed in the right direction,” Wasilla head coach Blake Livingston said by cellphone Saturday. Wasilla also blanked Kenai 3-0 on Friday and scored a lopsided 7-1 victory over Nikiski on Thursday.

“The team is really coming together,” Livingston said. “With regions coming up, that was good to play three games in a row.”

The win over Soldotna was a tough, physical match, Livingston said. “It was a physical contest for the full 80 minutes.”

The physical nature of the contest reached its peak at about the 50th minute. After a hard foul, a brief scuffle ensued. A player from each team was issued a red card.

“One of our goals is to try to find that middle ground, playing physical and also playing smart,” Livingston said.

Wasilla was also able to capitalize offensively in the second half. The game was scoreless at the intermission, but Kyle Polis was able to break the scoreless tie in the second half. Elijah Crawford added a pair of goals.

On Friday, Kyler Perry, Rell Sturdevant and Ethan Keenan each scored during the win over Kenai.

Wasilla girls top Kards

KENAI — Wasilla senior Nikki Vanni scored a pair of goals to lead the Warriors to a 2-1 win over the Kenai Kardinals on Friday.

Wasilla took a lead about 15 minutes into play. Freshman Alexis Starr drove the ball up the sideline and fed a pass across the field. Vanni, sitting about 18 yards from the goal, settled the ball and ripped a shot into the net.

At about the 30th minute, Vanni worked the give-and-go play with Mikaela Hull and scored to give the Warriors a 2-0 advantage.

Kenai was able to convert a penalty kick late in the second half.

Soldotna scored a 5-0 win over Wasilla on Saturday. Despite the loss, head coach Patrick O’Neill said he was pleased with the way his team worked.

“I was really happy with the effort, considering it was the third game (in three days),” O’Neill said of the Warriors, who also played Nikiski on Thursday.

O’Neill said Vanni and two other starters sat out the Soldotna game with minor injuries.

“Soldotna is good. It would be real interesting match with us at full strength,” O’Neill said.

Stars sweep Hawks

SOLDOTNA — The Soldotna Stars scored a pair of wins over Houston on Friday in Soldotna.

Miranda Wolfe posted a hat trick to lead Soldotna to an 11-0 win over the Houston girls.

Soldotna scored five first-half goals en route to a 6-0 win over the Houston boys.