The Soldotna girls soccer team started a Southeast road trip with a 2-0 victory over nonconference foe Ketchikan.
Margarida Mendoca notched the shutout in net for the Stars (5-1-2 overall). After a scoreless first half, Ryann Cannava and Drysta Crosby-Schneider sent the Stars to victory with second-half goals.
Soldotna coach Jimmy Love said Ketchikan’s goalie had some incredible saves in the first half.
“At the half, I told them, ‘Keep pushing. Keep pushing. We’ll get one,’” Love said.
A little over six minutes into the second half, Journey Miller sent a corner kick in to Cannava for a goal. With about four minutes left in the game, Kortney Birch played the ball to Haley Buckbee, who found Drysta Crosby-Schneider with a tough angle from the right side at the top of the 18-yard box. Crosby-Schneider managed to score on the near post.
“It was a great shot from her,” Love said.
The coach said Mendoca was fantastic, making six saves overall, including two that were very key.
Considering the travel and a wet, turf field that had the ball bouncing all over the place, Love said his team played well.
“We were taking a half second to look where we wanted to put the ball,” Love said. “We played a little more relaxed.”
The SoHi boys did not play Thursday, but join the team Friday. The Stars play in Juneau, girls at 5:15 p.m., boys at 7 p.m. Saturday SoHi takes on Thunder Mountain, with the girls at noon and boys at 1:45 p.m.
Homer girls 10, Voznesenka 0
The host Mariners won the Peninsula Conference matchup against the Cougars to move to 5-1-4 overall and 3-0-2 in the league.
Voznesenka is still a developing program, so Homer coach Mike Tozzo was able to play his junior varsity players. Mariah McGuire had a shutout in net, while Ava Halstead had three goals and Aiyana Cline added two. Also scoring for Homer were Shine Carey, Sailey Rhodes, Mya Houglum, Jamie Parish and Harmony Davidson.
“It was nice to get them the extra game,” Tozzo said of his JV squad. “They don’t have many games and it’s nice to give the girls a purpose behind attending all of the practices. I think they played really well.”
Tozzo also liked what he saw from Voznesenka.
“I give Voznesenka a lot of credit,” the coach said. “They keep showing up every year and playing hard. They only had 11 girls – no subs.”
Homer hosts Grace Christian on Friday, with the girls at 5 p.m. and the boys at 7 p.m.
