Kevin Ramos scored a pair of goals, goalkeeper Tristan Landry halted a pair of penalty kicks, and the Kardinals escaped Homer with a 5-1 Northern Lights Conference win Tuesday evening.
The victory boosted Kenai to a 7-2 overall record this season.
“Homer moved the ball really well, and they were short manned,” said Kenai coach Joel Reemtsma. The Mariners had just enough players available Tuesday to field an 11-man squad.
“For us, I was really pleased to see the way Kevin Ramos and Ean Atchley were owning the midfield,” Reemtsma added. “To see them both producing goals was nice.”
Atchley, Zack Tuttle and Max Dye provided the other three goals to Ramos’ two.
Ramos opened the scoring about 20 minutes in, collecting a cross from teammate Zack Tuttle and tapping it in for a Kenai lead.
Charles Rohr scored first for Homer to close Kenai’s lead to 2-1 in the first half, curling a free kick near the corner of the goalie box. Kenai led 3-1 at halftime.
Ten minutes into the second half, Landry was faced with the first Homer penalty kick. Rohr took the kick but Landry stuffed it. On the second penalty attempt later in the half, it was Oliver Beck taking the shot for Homer, but Landry once again denied it, just getting his hands on the inside post shot.
“The second one he had to really stretch for it,” Reemtsma said.
The Kardinals will host NLC opponent Kodiak Friday at 6 p.m.
Kenai girls 5, Homer 1
The Kardinals finished with an onslaught of goals to wrap up their first NLC win of the year Tuesday against Homer.
A late first-half goal left Kenai with a 1-0 lead over the Mariners, but by the 67th minute in the second half, the Kards has struck thrice more and held a 4-0 advantage.
Andie Sonnen scored for Homer to prevent a shutout for Kenai netminder Alli Steinbeck.
The win moved Kenai to 7-1-1 overall. The Kardinals will host Kodiak on Friday at 4 p.m.
