The Homer girls and Kenai Central boys soccer teams picked up Peninsula Conference victories Tuesday in Homer.
The Mariners girls won 1-0 to move to 3-0 in the league and 5-2-2 overall, while the Kenai girls are 1-1 and 4-3-1. The Kardinals boys won 4-0 to move to 2-0 in the league and 3-4 overall, while Homer dropped to 1-2 and 2-7.
In the girls game, Minadora Reutov provided the difference when she scored on a header 27 minutes into the second half. Ava Halstead had the cross.
“It was a beautiful cross and a really nice header,” Homer coach Mike Tozzo said. “She got up higher than everybody else and headed the ball into the corner of the net.”
Felicia Weisser had the shutout in net for Homer.
“It was pretty even,” Tozzo said. “It was super hard fought and super physical. It was pretty intense. It was a great game. Both teams played really, really well.”
Tozzo said both goalies made nice saves and the game could have gone either way.
The coach said Debbie Weisser, at defensive midfield, and Sela Weisser, at various positions, stood out, but added this was a team win with 19 of his 20 players seeing time, with the defense playing particularly well.
“Overall, as a team, we played really hard,” Tozzo said. “We were physical with them, and they were physical with us.”
Kenai coach Dan Verkuilen saw things nearly the same way.
“It was a really competitive game,” Verkuilen said. “Both sides had good opportunities. We had our share. It was a very equal game and a very physical game. Both teams fought hard.”
The coach said Cali Holmes and Kate Wisnewski did a good job on defense, while Kylie Verkuilen and Sarah Baisden applied the pressure in the midfield. Verkuilen also said Kori Moore put pressure on Homer’s defense.
In the boys game, the Kardinals scored all four of their goals in the first half for the victory. Gavin Langham had the shutout in net.
Joe Hamilton scored twice, while Aloshia Cross and Wade James added tallies.
“I thought the guys played really well,” Kenai coach Shane Lopez said. “They controlled the ball well and had long stretches of possession.”
The coach said a lot of that possession was due to seniors Hamilton and Sam Baisden in the midfield. Lopez said the two were able to keep possession for Kenai by getting the ball out of tight spaces quickly.
Homer coach Adam Diaz said he made an adjustment in the second half and it really made a difference in how the team communicated. Diaz said everybody on the team wants to see the team succeed, but that means sometimes players go out of position.
“This game, we turned away from being many to being one,” Diaz said. “Today, we finally unified 11 guys to make one team, and you can build a program off that.”
