The Kenai Central boys soccer team came from behind twice to earn a 2-all tie with nonconference foe Wasilla on Saturday at Ed Hollier Field at Kenai Central. The Kardinals are 4-4-1 overall.
Wasilla led 1-0 after the first half due to a goal off a corner kick.
Early in the second half, Sam Baisden got Kenai back to even on a penalty kick. With 15 minutes to go, Wasilla went ahead again. But about six minutes later, Baisden came through again, this time off an assist from Joe Hamilton.
The drama was not done as Kenai goalie Sawyer Vann saved a penalty kick with five minutes left.
“We dug in and came from behind twice in the same game,” Kenai coach Shane Lopez said. “That takes a lot of character and determination.”
The coach said that Vann, just a freshman, had an excellent weekend, saving both penalty kicks he saw and making some other excellent saves.
Lopez said Cole Langham, at defensive midfield, and Enrique Mercado, at outside midfield, also are making a big impact as freshmen.
Wasilla girls 2, Kenai 1
The host Kardinals fell to 5-4-1 overall with the nonconference loss to the Warriors.
Kylie Verkuilen put the Kards up 1-0 about seven minutes into the game when her corner kick deflected off of Wasilla and into the goal.
Wasilla then scored late in the first half and with 12 minutes left in the game. Kenai coach Dan Verkuilen said both shots were in the corner, and Maddie Malone didn’t have a chance to save either of them.
“I thought the girls played a really solid game,” Verkuilen said. “The defense played really well and the midfield and offense had good possession.”
The coach said defenders Valerie Villegas, Grace Beiser, Cali Holmes and Kate Wisnewski did a nice job with their marking, while Kylie Verkuilen won a lot of balls in the midfield and Rylie Sparks created some good opportunities, including a shot that just missed at the end of the game.
Homer boys 6, Redington 2
The host Mariners topped the Huskies for a third time this season to move to 4-7-1 overall. Owen Pitzman had a hat trick for Homer.
Homer scored three times in the first half. In the 30th minute, Mo Techie scored on a Hunter Green assist, in the 32nd minute Pitzman scored on a Jake Tappan assist, and in the 38th minute, Jack Hrenchir scored unassisted.
In the first minute of the second half, Pitzman scored with help from Lucas Story. He completed the hat trick four minutes later on an assist by Bryan Yindeethin. In the 17th minute, Thatcher Lowney completed the scoring by taking the ball coast to coast for a goal.
“It was maybe the second time we really looked like a team this season,” Homer coach Adam Diaz said. “In the first half, we probably had possession 90 percent of the time.”
Diaz said his team did a good job of waiting for an opening instead of forcing something not there. The coach also gave credit to Redington for continued improvement.
Soldotna girls 4, Thunder Mountain 2
The Stars notched a nonconference victory over the Falcons at Kenai Central to move to 4-3-1 overall.
Bay Bloom, assisted by Zayra Poage, scored about six minutes in to put the Stars on top. Thunder Mountain equalized on a free kick with about four minutes left in the first half, but a minute later SoHi’s Jolie Widaman put her squad up 2-1 with a 20-yard free kick of her own.
About 12 minutes into the second half, Bloom used a quick restart for another goal for the Stars, then Caleigh Glassmaker made it 4-1 on a penalty kick 24 minutes into the second half.
Soldotna coach Jimmy Love said Thunder Mountain then put the pressure on. He was not totally happy with the way his team responded, but overall he was pleased with the game.
“I’m happy with the fact that we have played three games in a row and we’ve played the game we know we can play,” Love said. “Have we done it perfectly? No. But we’ve done it to the point I can feel comfortable with how we’ve come out, and how we’ve finished.”
Palmer girls 1, Nikiski 0
The host Bulldogs fell to 0-5 after the nonconference loss to the Moose, but Nikiski coach Angie Coelho said it was great to play on the home grass field that has been covered with snow for much of the spring.
“The girls played hard and loved being on their own field,” Coelho said in a text message.
Coelho wrote that Diva Thies and Dani Thies played hard and made most of the team’s plays. The coach also wrote that Mady Stichal had quite a few shots, but couldn’t quite find the back of the net.
“I’m proud of how they played,” Coelho wrote.
Palmer boys 11, Nikiski 0
The host Bulldogs took a nonconference loss to the Moose to fall to 0-5-1.
Nikiski coach Jeremy Garrett said his team had only nine players due to injuries and a player out of town.
Garrett thanked Palmer for being gracious enough to play with nine players, as well.
Redington girls 2, Homer 1
The host Mariners fell to 6-4-2 with a nonconference loss to the Huskies.
“It counts as a varsity game, but we let the JV play,” Homer coach Mike Tozzo said. “They got some extra playing time and we didn’t get the result we wanted. We now have to do the job against our conference opponents that we would have had to do anyway.”
Tozzo said it was a good game, with both teams playing well. Channing Lowney had Homer up 1-0 headed to the final 15 minutes of the game, but a few late defensive breakdowns cost the Mariners.
Tozzo said Christi Weisser had a solid game at goalie, as did center midfielders Kavindra Johnson and Regan Baker. The coach also said defensive center back Elizabeth Rozeboom had a nice game.
“Unfortunately we took a varsity loss, but in the grand scheme of things it was great to get all these players a game of playing time,” Tozzo said.
