Wasilla girls, Colony boys fall in first round of state soccer tourney

EAGLE RIVER — Early in the season, West Valley walked off its home field with a slim 1-0 victory over the Wasilla Warriors. Thursday, during the Warriors second meeting of the season with the Wolfpack, not much separated the two teams. And once again, the Wolfpack found a way to squeeze past Wasilla.

West Valley freshman Kiara Simpson used a first-half goal to help the Wolfpack score a 1-0 win over Wasilla during the ASAA/First National Bank State Soccer Championships quarterfinals at Eagle River High School.

“State soccer games, just a game of inches,” Wasilla head coach Patrick O’Neill said after the loss.

Simpson picked up a loose ball in traffic just outside of the left side of the Wasilla penalty box, weaved inside and ripped a shot just inside the far post to provide the lone score of the game.

“We knew coming in she was going to be the one (to watch). We knew we had to be careful on the back line. We made one real mistake, and she made us pay,” O’Neill said.

The goal was Simpson’s 17th of the season, and 14th in the last eight games.

Wasilla’s star, senior captain Alexa Starr, nearly tied the game two minutes later. Starr, the Northern Lights Conference Player of the Year, struck a hard shot from beyond the 18-yard line. But being that game of inches, Starr’s attempt hit the crossbar.

“That’s a quality opponent,” O’Neill said of the Wolfpack. “I think it was evenly matched. I know we had our chances.”

Starr’s shot off the crossbar may have been Wasilla’s best chance of the day. Two inches lower, O’Neill said, the Warriors may have gotten the dose of energy they needed.

“You just need that one break. When the adrenaline starts pumping you’re fine. But we never got that,” O’Neill said.

O’Neill praised the work of his senior first-year goalkeeper Lauren Amirault, who made a number of key stops to keep it a one-goal match.

“Lauren never played goalie before this year. (This year) she played every game and got better, and better and better,” O’Neill said. “I can’t say enough about her.”

With the win, West Valley moves ahead to play Northern Lights Conference champion Kenai Central in the state semifinals Friday at 1 p.m. at Bartlett High School. Kenai advanced, using extra time to edge Juneau-Douglas 3-2. The teams ended regulation tied at 2, and after the overtime frames, Kenai bested Juneau in penalty kicks 4-2. West Valley is the last team outside of Anchorage’s Cook Inlet Conference to play in a girls’ state soccer final, meeting South in 2012 final. A win Friday puts West Valley in the final for the second time in four years. Kenai is looking for its first trip to the state final in program history.

Wasilla will face Juneau-Douglas Friday at 1 p.m. at Eagle River High in the consolation semifinals. Wasilla is winless in the first round in eight trips to the state tourney since 2005. The Warriors have two state tournament wins since 2005 (2005 and 2011), both coming on the second day of the tournament.

South Anchorage 5, Colony 0

EAGLE RIVER — Just like the Wasilla girls, the Colony boys also had a rematch of an early-season meeting in the first round of the state tournament. And just like Warriors, the Knights’ state tournament contest ended with a score identical to the early-season meeting.

South Anchorage topped Colony 5-0 in the first round of the ASAA/First National Bank State Soccer Championships Thursday evening. South also beat Colony 5-0 in April, Colony’s second match of the 2015 season.

With the loss, Colony, the defending state champion, moves backward and will face West Valley Friday at 3 p.m. in the consolation semifinals at Eagle River High. West Valley suffered a 3-0 loss to Juneau-Douglas Thursday.