The Cook Inlet Academy Eagles lost a pair of weekend games to finish 1-2 on a three-game homestand at the Kenai Soccer Complex.
CIA lost 3-2 Friday to Su-Valley and 3-1 Saturday to Birchwood Christian, dropping their season tally to 1-5-2 in Borealis Conference play.
Friday against Su-Valley, the Eagles went down 3-0 before second-half goals brought CIA back into the game. Dalton Pinard scored twice for the defending Borealis Conference champions, with goals in the third and 45th minutes.
CIA got on the board in the 52nd minute with a goal from Noah Castenholz, who received a through ball from Isaac Johnson at the top of the penalty area to score.
The Eagles cut the lead to one in the 75th minute when Johnson and Castenholz teamed up again with Johnson getting the scoring strike.
CIA could not complete the comeback, however, as head coach Kenny Leaf pointed to the slow start as reason why.
“I’m not happy with the hole we dug for ourselves,” Leaf wrote in an email. “But hats off to our kids for battling a full 80 minutes.”
Leaf also praised the defense of Eddie Erickson and the on-field efforts of Castenholz and Tatum Rozak.
Saturday, Birchwood Christian was able to beat CIA for a third time in 2019. Just like Friday, the Eagles fell into a 3-0 hole by the early minutes of the second half, giving up goals in the 28th minute to Jackson Hanson and the 40th to Braden Palmer for a 2-0 halftime lead.
CIA mistakenly added an own goal in the 47th to push Birchwood’s lead to three.
Johnson scored unassisted for CIA in the 68th minute, but the rally fell short.
CIA hits the road next weekend for a Friday game against Holy Rosary Academy before returning home for the team’s senior night Saturday against Lumen Christi.
