Wasilla forced to settle for tie

ANCHORAGE — It’s hard to accept a tie, even one that gives you a share of third place.

Seventh-seeded Wasilla played a scoreless 80 minutes with top-ranked Dimond during the ASAA/First National Bank State Soccer Championships third-place game at Anchorage Football Stadium on Saturday afternoon leaving both programs with a piece of the third-place prize.

“It just doesn’t feel right with a tie,” Wasilla senior captain Tillerman Kroon said. “I would have like to have played it out for a win.”

Per state tournament rules, matches for third and fourth place stop if tied at the end of regulation. The championship bouts and all action during the first two rounds continues through 20 minutes of overtime, 10 minutes of sudden death and a shootout until a winner is declared.

Kroon appeared to have given Wasilla the first score of the game during the 55th minute, but his goal — a header off a Bradley Primmer free kick from midfield — was disallowed due to an offsides call.

“I thought I got that one,” Kroon said. “I thought it was a goal.”

Kroon’s header was one of several quality scoring chances put together by the hard-working Warriors against Dimond, the tournament’s No. 1 seed.

“Yesterday and today we had our opportunities,” Wasilla head coach Blake Livingston said, also referring to his team’s efforts during a 1-0 semifinal loss to third-seeded West Anchorage on Friday. “For the last 20 minutes (against Dimond) we controlled the possession and had some good opportunities.”

The versatile Kroon, who was moved up from his normal spot on the backline to the midfield, factored in on a number of those chances. During the 53rd minute, a Primmer free kick skipped right between Kroon and junior Borja Angoitia, who were both crashing to the net.

Senior Aaron Sharrow and sophomore Paul Sliwa also had legitimate chances on the Dimond net.

Early in the second half, Sharrow hit a solid shot from just inside the box that Dimond keeper Arturo Oberto knocked to the right of the net. With four minutes left in regulation, Sharrow moved his way in close to the goal, but Oberto stepped forward to knock the ball away.

During the 65th minute, Sharrow dropped a pass back to Sliwa, who stood just inside the left side of the box. Sliwa got a solid knock on goal, but his shot curved just enough in the wind to hit the left side of the net.

Dimond also had its chances.

Senior Trason Merrit sent a hard shot on goal that nearly got away from Wasilla goalie Eli Tingstad during the first minute. Tingstad made the initial stop, and after the ball bounced out of his hands, he was able to recover in time. That attempt would be the closest Dimond would come to a goal in the game.

In the 36th minute, Tingstad put both of his hands up to knock a tough Patrick Wolverton shot from point-blank range to the side. Midway through the second half, Tingstad had to put his hands up again to knock a Wolverton attempt up and over the cross bar of the goal.

“Eli had a couple of really big saves,” Kroon said.

Despite the tie, Wasilla equaled a program best with its third-place finish. The Warriors were also third in 2003.

“Third place is a big accomplishment for our team,” Livingston said.

Wasilla also had a difficult route through the tourney, meeting the top three seeds in the bracket in as many days.

“I wouldn’t have expected it,” Livingston said. “We definitely had a tough road.”

Wasilla opened the tourney with a 1-0 win over second-seeded Colony, and suffered a slim 1-0 loss to third-seeded West Anchorage in the semis. And against the top three seeded teams in the tournament, Wasilla and its sophomore goalie surrendered just one goal.

“I think we surprised some people,” Kroon said.

Random shots … Wasilla nets its third-place finish after missing the 2008 tourney. The Warriors were fifth in 2006 and 2007 … Wasilla is now a perfect 4-0 during the first round of the state tourney and 5-6-1 overall … Sharrow, who was named all-tournament along with Sliwa, ends his Wasilla career as both the single season assists leader and the career assists leader at Wasilla High … Arguably the biggest oversight of the state tourney was the omission of Tingstad, who allowed only a single goal in matches against the top three seeds in the bracket, from the all-tourney team.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.