The Homer and Kenai Central boys soccer teams played to a 0-0 draw Saturday in Northern Lights Conference Southern Division action at Kenai Central.
The Kardinals are now 2-0-1 in the division and 7-2-1 overall. Kodiak is 5-2-1 overall.
Early on, when the play was more open, Kenai coach Joel Reemtsma said Zack Tuttle had a header off the crossbar and another good chance off the head was missed.
As the game went on, Kodiak played more and more defensively, and the Kards couldn’t solve that puzzle.
“Sometimes teams park it and try to counter,” Reemtsma said. “We’ve done it ourselves, and we’ve got to learn how to deal with it.
“We also need to learn how to head the ball and snap it down in traffic. I told them after the game, ‘The difference here is we need to head the ball well.’”
Tristan Landry had the shutout for Kenai, but Reemtsma said he didn’t face many shots due to the defending of Max Dye and Braydon Goodman. Reemtsma said Kodiak forward Emerson Portillo is tough to shut down.
Reemtsma also said Karl Danielson came off the bench and played well all over the field.
Kenai girls 15, Kodiak 0
The host Kardinals improved to 8-1-1 overall and 3-0 in the Northern Lights Conference Southern Division with the shutout win.
“The girls actually did move the ball nicely with unselfish one- and two-touch passes,” Kenai coach Dan Verkuilen said.
Olivia Brewer and Samantha Morse had hat tricks for the Kards, while Cori Holmes and Hayley Maw each scored twice.
Lara Creighton, Hannah Drury, Rebecca Miller, Berit Fossgaard and Emily Halstead added goals.
Alli Steinbeck fielded one shot for the shutout, but despite the lopsided score, Verkuilen said the Bears have come a long way in the past year.
Homer girls 4, Houston 1
The visiting Mariners moved to 5-4 overall with a comeback victory over the Hawks on Saturday.
Houston scored in the first few minutes of the game, but Uliana Reutov and Sam Draves had Homer up 2-1 at halftime. Reutov and Rachel Ellert scored in the second half to salt away the game.
Homer coach Mike Tozzo said Ali McCarron was solid in the net despite playing with an injury.
He said Ellert, Reutov, Draves and Brenna McCarron controlled the midfield, while Kaela Jiron, Kimberly Lynn and Brenna McCarron were solid on the back line.
“We played well Friday but things didn’t fall our way,” Tozzo said. “It was good to come back today and regroup.”
Tozzo added that Homer hosts Valley teams Thursday, Friday and Saturday, allowing for key preparation for the conference tournament.
Homer boys 11, Houston 0
The visiting Mariners cruised past the Hawks on Saturday to move to 2-6 overall.
Wasilla boys 2, Homer 0
The Warriors picked up a Northern Lights Conference victory Friday night at home over the Mariners.
Homer dropped to 2-6 overall, but Mariners coach Warren Waldorf left with an optimistic attitude.
“It was probably our best game of the year so far,” Waldorf said. “We’re probably just going to get better.”
Waldorf said that Wasilla coach Blake Livingston congratulated him after the game, telling the Homer coach that he had to put five of his attackers on Homer’s midfield to produce decent scoring opportunities.
Kenzington Cortez held up in goal, Waldorf added.
Wasilla girls 3, Homer 0
The visiting Mariners fell to 4-4 overall with the Friday shutout loss to the Warriors in Northern Lights Conference action.
Homer girls coach Mike Tozzo said his squad did a great job sticking with the bigger Warriors squad for most of the match.
“I told them at halftime that it was the best half of soccer we played all year-round,” Tozzo said.
Wasilla scored toward the end of the first half, then scored twice quickly in the middle of the second half to put the game away.
“For 65 minutes, we played fantastic,” Tozzo said. “For the middle 15 minutes of the second half, we were staring at balls and jogging a bit.”
Tozzo said Alison McCarron moved into the net and did a good job, allowing Sam Draves to roam the midfield.
The coach also said left midfielder Megan Pitzman, center back Brenna McCarron and right back Kaela Jiron had solid games.
“We got a lot of looks on goal, we just couldn’t quite finish,” Tozzo said.
Houston girls 3, Seward 0
The host Hawks shut out the Seahawks on Friday in Northern Lights Conference action.
Houston boys 3, Seward 3
The host Hawks and Seahawks played to a draw Friday in Northern Lights Conference action.
