The Homer boys won their first-round matchup against Palmer 4-0 to make it to the second round in the Northern Lights Conference tournament for the first time in five years. 

The win also is the first Thursday win for a peninsula team in the tourney since 2009.

“This is the first loser-out game we’ve won in five years,” Homer coach Warren Waldorf said. “We won our first-round game five years ago and none since. Just a great feeling all around.”

The Kenai Central boys dropped a game to Colony 2-1 on Friday afternoon at Kenai.

The Kards now sport a 3-5-1 overall record.

“Our defense played hard in the second half, Keegan (Remsen) played a great game back there,” Kenai coach John Morton said. “We moved the ball really well, but they’re a tough team, and going into regions next week, we’re making improvements every game.”

Colony scored first with a header from freshman Harrison Menard in the 21st minute, and a goal late in the first half from sophomore Chris Olsen put the Knights up 2-0 at halftime.

The Soldotna boys reeled off a 5-1 victory against Skyview on Thursday at Skyview. With this victory, Soldotna picked up the second seed out of the Northern Lights Conference Southern Division entering the conference tournament.

The Stars got an early goal from Cory Carver, who had two scores overall in the game.

“Scoring early always helps, and being able to keep the pressure on them helps,” Soldotna coach Jeff Siemers said.

The Kenai Kardinals suffered a sluggish start as they lost to Service 17-2 Friday evening in Kenai.
Kenai pitcher Brianna King gave up 13 earned runs to Service, which is a dangerous batting team. King also had three strikeouts.
“This is the first time we’ve played a large school this year, and they did well, because potentially we could’ve been blown out,” Kenai coach Mark King said. “We did lose pretty bad, but it could’ve been a lot worse, and the girls stuck in there.”