Wasilla girls use late PK to force tie

WASILLA — The Wasilla Warriors cashed in on a late break and salvaged a key point in the Railbelt Conference.

Reese Sande converted a penalty kick during the 78th minute to force a 1-1 tie against visiting Colony Tuesday at Wasilla High School.

“Reese made a nice run. I wasn’t positive that it was inside the box, but the refs conferred,” Wasilla head coach Patrick O’Neill said of the play with called contact that led to the penalty kick. “It’s a tough way for Colony to lose a victory, but a good way for us to gain a point. I’m happy with how we played. I’ll take it.”

Wasilla is now 1-0-1 in Railbelt play, and 1-0-1 since starting the season 0-2-1 during a stretch that included both the Division I defending state champion (South Anchorage), the Division II state champion (Juneau-Douglas) and a West Anchorage squad that advanced to the state semifinals last year. O’Neill said finding a way to grab at least the tie could be key for his team.

“It’s huge,” O’Neill said. “I’ve never been so happy after a tie.”

Trailing 1-0 at the break, O’Neill said the Warriors needed to find additional ways to put pressure on Colony’s defensive end.

“The goal at halftime was to make some adjustments, try to put them on their heels,” O’Neill said. “Get in the box. As aggressive as their defenders are, we might get a foul, might get some direct kicks or a PK call.”

Bella Brown gave the Knights the 1-0 lead midway through the first half. Brown knocked in a header, a rebound created by a direct kick.

“A really good strike on a direct kick,” O’Neill said.

Colony is now 2-0-1 in Railbelt play.

Colony boys blank Warriors

Sullivan Menard, Noah Krozel and Kyle Dearborn each scored to lead Colony to a 3-0 boys win over Wasilla Tuesday.

Menard gave the Knights their first lead right before halftime, a one-timer set up a Connor Friesen corner kick. In the 70th minute, Menard flicked a long throw in from Shawn McMillan to Krozel, who headed the ball in. In the 78th minute, McMillan chipped a ball to Dearborn, who also scored on a header.

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