Wasilla, Colony boys grab lopsided victories in NLC tourney

WASILLA — The Wasilla Warriors weren’t only interested in getting off to a good start in their first-round match. They wanted to get their weekend off to a good start.

What’s a good way to do that?

How about scoring a goal less than a minute into the game.

Ethan Keenan sent a cross from the right side of the field, and Oleg Lozko crashed the far post and knocked a shot into the net during the first minute of play. The play helped spark the Warriors, who scored a 7-1 win over Soldotna during the Northern Lights Conference Championships quarterfinals at Wasilla High School Thursday evening.

“That was huge for us to come out and score a goal in the first minute. I think it really set the tone for us,” Wasilla head coach Blake Livingston said.

Lozko, Keenan and Alex Fonov each recorded a pair of goals for Wasilla. Kyle Broach also scored for the Warriors, who will move forward to play Homer in the semifinals Friday at 5 p.m. at Wasilla High.

Livingston said he hopes the momentum created by the win will help power the Warriors through the weekend.

“You always want to peak at the right time. Our goal is to be in the championship game,” Livingston said.

Wasilla scored three times during the first 22 minutes, and held a 4-1 lead at halftime.

“We were opportunistic. We scored some nice goals,” Livingston said.

Livingston said he also felt Soldotna played better than the score indicated.

“I thought Soldotna also played hard though,” Livingston said. “Even though the score might not have shown it, especially in the first half, they were right there. We definitely didn’t want to loose the momentum.”

Leading 1-0, Keenan used a throw-in from the left side to set up Broach’s goal. Broach stood in the center of the box, and after a scramble, booted a ball into the net. In the 22nd minute, captain Cash McGregor sent a ball in from the left side to set up Keenan’s first goal of the game. That score gave the Warriors the 3-0 lead.

Soldotna netted its lone goal in the 27th minute.

Charalambos Asimakopoulo scored to cut Wasilla’s lead to 3-1.

Wasilla answered the SoHi goal four minutes later with Fonov’s first goal of the match.

Fonov, Keenan and Lozko also scored in the second half.

Colony boys 9,

Nikiski 2

PALMER — The Nikiski Bulldogs saw their season end after one day at the NLC tournament in a blowout to state powerhouse Colony.

Nikiski was able to sustain the Knights’ attacks in the early minutes, but once Colony started scoring, they came often.

Kyle Bolam scored with an assist from Ben Atkinson in the eighth minute, which was followed by a goal from Arty Fonov just one minute later, with help from Bolam.

By the 12th minute, Colony had a third goal, this one from Atkinson, and when 15 minutes were up, a fourth goal was on the board from Ben Sande.

Unofficially, Colony had a 23-3 shots on goal advantage, and had eight corner kick opportunities to Nikiski’s zero.

Colony held a 5-0 lead at halftime, and extended it to six early in the second half with a goal from Arty Fonov, but the Bulldogs soon broke through for a rare goal on the Knights.

“There was only three (goals) scored on them all season, so to get two goals on them, that’s a big deal for our kids,” said Nikiski coach Jim Coburn. “I had a good time this season, and if I didn’t, I wouldn’t coach.

“I told them to do what they usually do and play a better second half than they did in the first half. They’re not going to stop scoring if you stop playing, so I think we did that.”

Junior Christian Riddall broke through the Colony defense and timed his shot just well enough to beat goalkeeper Sean Haley in the 56th minute. Michael Stangel added Nikiski’s second goal in the 79th minute.

Colony coach Jeremy Johnson was given a yellow card with three minutes left in regulation after arguing with the referree. Johnson said he wanted senior Trevor Murray to score a penalty kick that Colony was awarded, but the referree wouldn’t allow it, since Murray had just been subbed into the game.

“He’s played defense his whole life and I wanted him to score a goal,” Johnson said.

Instead of Murray, Jimmy Goyette took the penalty kick and missed. Ultimately, Murray ended up getting his goal that he wanted just three minutes later, converting on a corner kick by Jake Forstner.

“They amended the rules this weekend, because of the smoke, that we could sub in anytime in case there were asthma problems and stuff like that,” Johnson said. “And then the referree came over and yelled at me.”

Colony moves on to Friday’s semifinals where they will face Kenai Central at 1 p.m. at Wasilla High School.

Peninsula Clarion reporter Joey Klecka contributed to this story.