Wasilla girls continue solid start to season

ANCHORAGE — The Wasilla Warriors are progressing faster than Amber Craig expected.

“The girls are playing well. Their possession game, I knew they’d get there eventually,” Craig, Wasilla’s second-year head coach, said after her team’s 5-0 win over Palmer. “It surprised me and the other coaches how early they’ve got here. It’s exciting.”

Wasilla scored four times in the first half to improve to 2-0 overall and spoil Palmer’s season-opening match. Lina Shadrach, Amy Jo Coonrod, Nikki Vanni and Erin Murray scored during the first 40 minutes. Mikaela Hull scored during the second half.

Murray and Hull, both sophomores, recorded their first career varsity goals during the victory.

Wasilla opened its season with a 3-1 win over Colony last week. Craig said that helped Wasilla during its match against Palmer.

“To our advantage, we had a game under our belt,” Craig said. “You could kind of see that in their play in the beginning. They were trying to figure it out.”

Wasilla played both of its first-year goalkeepers, Kelsie Boe and Kamarae Kaina, during the win. Craig said Kaina saw more pressure in the second half. Both goalies saw action for the second consecutive match.

”I don’t know if we’ll continue to do that, but right now at the beginning of the season, we want to see where both of them are at,” Craig said. “Let them both feel what it’s like to have the start. In games not counting toward conference, we want to give them as much playing time as possible.”

After playing only two matches during the first month of the season, Wasilla now has four matches in as many days next week. The Warriors will meet Northern Lights Conference rival Grace Christian Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Dimond High School. The Warriors will compete in a tournament hosted by Dimond during the following three days. Craig is excited about the chance to see some of the top teams from Anchorage in the tourney.

“It comes at the right time in our season,” Craig said. “We’ve got a couple games under our belt and we’re doing well. We’ll get to see where we’re at amongst the state’s top competition.”

Wasilla will face South Anchorage, Dimond and Chugiak during the tourney. Juneau-Douglas and West Valley round out a field that includes five of the eight teams that advanced to the state tourney last year.

“It’s a really good opportunity,” Craig said. “We hardly ever play Anchorage schools.”

The Moose are also preparing for a busy stretch. Palmer will meet state power Juneau-Douglas Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Anchorage Football Stadium. Following that match, it’s off to the Kenai Peninsula for a three-day road trip. Palmer will play Nikiski Thursday at 3 p.m., Soldotna Friday at 3 p.m. and Kenai Central Saturday at 10 a.m.

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