Friday: Nikiski soccer sweeps Seward

The Nikiski boys pulled out a tense 2-1 victory over Seward on Friday to complete a season sweep for which Bulldogs coach Harrison Deveer had been waiting.

In his first two years on the job, Deveer had seen his Nikiski teams split the season with Seward, so his hopes in 2019 was to see his squad earn both wins in a year.

“I’ve never had that before,” Deveer said. “In both (coaching) middle school and high school, it’s always been either or for us. Even the year Seward didn’t have a varsity, they came in here with JV and beat us, so I’m glad that we got the win.”

The Nikiski boys lifted their season record to 2-5 in Peninsula Conference play and 4-5 overall, while the Seahawks dropped to 0-4 in conference and 0-5 overall.

Nikiski had beaten Seward 4-0 just one week earlier on Seward’s home turf, but Deveer still harbored concerns about pulling off the season sweep for the first time in four years.

His concerns were quelled in quick order after two goals in the first 15 minutes. Junior Michael Mysing got the scoring started early with a stellar shot from the right wing of the field from about 25 yards out that streaked past Seward goalkeeper Collin Mullaly.

Nikiski went up 2-0 in the 15th minute on a long blast from senior Jace Kornstad from about 40 yards out.

“I thought we played really well in the first half, but I knew Seward would come back and play hard in the second half,” Deveer said. “Our goals were on really good shots.”

Seward quickly got one back in the 18th minute on a goal by Tommy Cronin on a strike from the right corner of the goal box that got by Nikiski goalie Dylan Harris.

One thing that helped the Bulldogs stave off Seward’s attacks in the second half was having senior Michael Eiter back in goal. Eiter sat the first half for disciplinary reasons determined by Deveer just days after sitting a full game against Kenai Central.

Eiter came in to replace Harris in goal after halftime, and later acknowledged that he showed poor sportsmanship prior to an 8-0 loss to Kenai on Tuesday, thus the benching for the first 40 minutes of Friday’s game.

“Anytime he’s not playing, it affects the team greatly,” Deveer said. “It was 8-0 in the Kenai game.”

Eiter said he felt nervous entering the game in the second half but was able to post a blank sheet in 40 minutes of work between the posts, including several hot chances by Seward.

“One of the shots that hit off the bar had a really lucky spin after I barely touched it,” Eiter said. “… I wanted to let the guys know that what I said after all wasn’t what I meant, because everyone is a part of this team and it isn’t one player that carries us.”

Seward had its first good chance of scoring in the 51st minute on a free kick by Samuel Koster just outside the goal box that glanced off the crossbar. The Seahawks had another great chance in the 63rd minute but Eiter blocked it high, then in the 73rd minute saw a chance go wasted on a shot that rebounded off Eiter into space in the goal box, before being cleared.

Nikiski girls 5, Seward 1

Jordyn Stock and America Jeffreys each scored two goals to lead the Bulldogs to a convincing Peninsula Conference win Friday in Nikiski.

Nikiski improved to 2-5 in conference and 2-6-2 overall this year, while Seward dropped to 0-5 overall.

Bulldogs head coach Linda Zimmerman said the team executed well with consistent communication on the field, which had been something on which she wanted to see her squad work.

“We talked about what we needed to do and they listened,” she said. “We talk about volleyball and basketball and soccer. There’s a common element here when we play, and just trying to impress on the girls that the same skills in volleyball and basketball transfer to soccer.”

Jeffreys scored just three minutes in to open the scoring, then senior Emma Wik added a goal in the fifth minute to quickly push the score to 2-0.

Stock made it 3-0 Nikiski in the 17th minute on an assist from Tika Zimmerman that ricocheted off Seward goalie Makaira Williams and back to the feet of Stock.

The junior striker tallied her second goal just 10 minutes later, using a fast juke from the right wing to center to deliver an excellent strike up top, forging a 4-0 lead by halftime.

Stock said working with Jeffreys and senior Emma Wik helps make her job that much easier.

“My team sent nice through balls to me,” Stock explained. “Our team is just a really tight-knit and we’re all supportive of each other.”

Jeffreys notched her second goal of the day just three minutes into the second half on an assist from Wik.

Seward’s lone goal came from Belladonna Darby in the 69th minute on a blast from the middle following a corner kick.

“We came out flat in the first half,” said Seward head coach Coty Beck. “We picked it up in the second half, put some good passing together, but it was a little too late in the game. We have our bursts at times and opportunities, just too few and far between today.”

Makaira Williams started in goal for Seward but left after 32 minutes due to illness. Eva Ballard came in to finish the game with the score 4-0 and gave up just one goal in the second half.