Soldotna soccer sweeps Nikiski

The Soldotna girls soccer team avoided a slow start Monday at Nikiski, while the Stars boys overcame one.

The SoHi girls received five goals from Rhys Cannava to notch an 8-0 victory over the Bulldogs in Peninsula Conference play, while the Stars boys topped Nikiski 3-1 behind a pair of strikes from Alex Montague.

The Soldotna girls are now 7-2-2 overall and 2-0-2 in the league, while Nikiski falls to 1-2-0 and 1-2-2. On the boys side, the Stars are 7-4-0 and 3-1-0, while Nikiski is 1-4-0 and 3-4-0.

The SoHi girls had defeated Nikiski 2-0 on April 16 and were coming off a weekend road trip to Southeast Alaska. Throw in the grass surface, and coach Jimmy Love was worried about a slow start.

“We don’t play that many games on grass anymore, but they came out and moved it around,” Love said.

In the first 16 minutes of the game, the Stars took a 4-0 lead. Cannava had an early hat trick on assists from Katharine Bramante, Journey Miller, and Meijan Leaf and Ryann Cannava. Leaf also scored on an early penalty kick.

“I think the girls came out flat in the first half and they all knew it,” Nikiski coach Linda Zimmerman said. “I tried to get them to pump each other up and they did a lot better in the second half.”

Before the end of the first half, Sierra Kuntz would score on assists from Haley Buckbee and Hannah Delker.

Despite the 6-0 hole at the half, Zimmerman said it could have been worse.

“Abby Bystedt did an amazing job,” she said of her goalie. “They scored a lot of goals, but she stopped a lot of shots, too.”

As Nikiski picked up the pace, Love was not happy with the way his team responded.

“We started getting away from looking for the open lane and looking for open people and instead we were just kicking it,” he said. “Toward the tail end of the second half, we got it together again.”

In the final 10 minutes, Cannava tallied twice more, first on assists from Leaf and Jolie Widaman, then on an assist from Sierra Longfellow.

“It was good to get some minutes from the girls who don’t see as much playing time,” Love said. “That’s always nice when you have a busy week.”

Zimmerman said America Jeffreys, Jordyn Stock and Emma Wik made some nice plays up front, but it was not enough to solve Soldotna keeper Margarida Mendoca, who posted her third shutout in four games.

Soldotna boys 3, Nikiski 1

Goalie Hunter Woodward kept the Stars in the game long enough for Montague to play a major role in winning it.

“The entire first half, he was the totality of our defense,” Soldotna coach David Holmes said of his goalie.

In the second and eighth minutes, Justin Harris broke free in the box with chances in front of Woodward, but sprawling saves denied both chances.

“We had it,” Nikiski coach Harrison Deveer said. “We won the possession game and kept the pressure on.”

In the 26th minute, the Stars struck first when Austin Escott scored on a shot from Cameron Johnson.

Just five minutes into the second half, though, Michael Mysing beat Woodward from deep, sending a shot that bounced right in front of the goal and skidded underneath the arm of the goalie.

Holmes said the Stars have three big scoring weapons in Kaleb Swank, Josh Heiber and Montague. With Swank and Heiber out due to injury, it fell on Montague to deliver and he did.

In the 25th minute of the second half, Wyatt Nelson attacked in the box and Montague picked up the loose ball and scored. Just five minutes later, Montague drew a foul in the box and converted the penalty kick.

Deveer said his team was tiring and that penalty kick really took the wind from their sails.

Holmes said he was not happy with the way most of his team played, saying players were capable of stepping up in the wake of injuries and did not. The coach said the one exception was Maleda Denbrock.

Deveer said his whole team did an amazing job, but he particularly liked Jace Kornstad at defensive midfield and Harris at forward. Harris was making his debut at forward due to an injury to Pedro Souza, but Harris went out late in the game with an ankle injury. Deveer said the severity of the injury is not yet known.