Wasilla girls earn trip to state soccer tourney

PALMER — Wasilla and Colony girls’ soccer teams faced off on Saturday for third place in the Northern Lights Conference tournament and a berth in the state tournament, which starts Thursday.

The third day of the NLC playoffs saw a Valley showdown between the Knights and Warriors at Machetanz field Saturday. The Wasilla girls dominated their opponents in both halves of the game, scoring two goals in the first and five in the second, making it a resounding 7-0 victory for the Warriors.

Wasilla’s first goal defined the rest of the match, as Teyonnah Williams ran with the ball from the 30-yard mark and slipped it past Colony goalkeeper Madison Zmuda’s right glove in the fifth minute of play. The Warriors continued to run through the Knights’ porous back line throughout the game.

Alexa Starr, Wasilla’s standout center midfielder and striker, put herself on the score sheet three minutes later. Starr settled a solid pass from teammate Alexis Abbott before hammering the ball off Colony’s keeper and into the net.

Colony had a couple of clear chances at Wasilla’s end, but only managed to graze the goalposts. Knights’ striker Peyton Johnstone was a particularly strong force, but her shots in the 28th and 40th minutes never made it into the net. The rest of Colony’s play was characterized by misplaced passes and a lack of ball control.

Wasilla, on the other hand, seemed to be really well organized and held possession for the majority of the match. The right- and left backs of their defense smartly turned the ball to the outside, central midfielders made crisp, precise passes, and the Warriors’ playmakers sent long, diagonal balls to their speedy wingers.

The latter strategy was the key to Williams’ hat trick, as she ran onto through passes in the fifth and eighth minutes of the second half, curving the ball around Colony’s goaltender for her second and third points. The Warriors then sent a through pass down the middle, and Ally Hull coolly dragged it past the Colony keep as she came off the line, leaving Hull to tap the ball into an empty net.

Starr was the next to score, dribbling into the penalty box from the 30-yard line and poking the ball underneath the keeper before the Knights’ defense closed down on her. Phoebe Christiansen notched Wasilla’s final goal, netting a ball sent in from a corner kick.

This match marked the end of the season for Colony, but the Warriors will now prepare for the state championships.

“We’ll see who we get in the first game and then go from there,” said Wasilla head coach Patrick O’Neill.

The tournament matchups are completely random, but O’Neill believes that a physical strategy will be instrumental against any opponent.

“The teams that qualify for state are all strong and physical, so stepping up will always be key for us,” O’Neill said.

Contact Kaden Weaver at 352-2270 or kaden.weaver@frontiersman.com