The regular season slate of soccer games in the Peninsula Conference wrapped up Friday in Nikiski with Soldotna sweeping the Bulldogs.
The SoHi girls won 7-0, while the Stars boys won 11-1.
The Kenai girls, at 6-0-0 in the league, and SoHi boys, at 4-0-2 in the league and 8-2-3 overall, will be the top seeds when the conference tournament starts Friday at Soldotna High School.
The Soldotna girls (4-2-0, 9-4-0) and the Kenai boys (3-1-2) are No. 2, the Homer girls (2-4-0) and the Homer boys (2-2-2) are No. 3, and the Nikiski girls (0-6-0, 2-7-1) and the Nikiski boys (0-6-0, 0-8-0) are No. 4.
Friday, the Soldotna boys play Nikiski at 7 p.m., while the Homer boys play Kenai at 3 p.m. The third-place game is Saturday at noon, while the title game kicks off at 4 p.m.
Friday, the Kenai girls play Nikiski at 1 p.m., while the Homer girls play Soldotna at 5 p.m. The third-place game is Saturday at 10 a.m., while the title game is at 2 p.m.
The top two girls and boys teams at the tournament earn a berth to Division II state. There also are two girls and two boys at-large berths open at Division II, as well.
In the Nikiski-Soldotna girls game, the Stars had a 3-0 lead at the half. Jazzalynn McDonald scored on assists from Sadie Lane and Morgan Lemm, Bay Bloom scored on an assist from Liberty Miller, and McDonald scored on assists from Lacy Nye and Sonia Montague.
In the second half, McDonald completed her hat trick in the 46th minute. Also for SoHi, Lane scored on an assist from Bloom, Caylee Uribe-Koivisto scored on a long shot, and Emilia Hinz scored on a penalty kick.
Avery Powell had the shutout in net for the Stars.
Despite the victory, SoHi coach Jimmy Love was not happy with the way his team played. Love said the Stars put together a complete game in beating Grace Christian 5-0 on May 6, but the game against Nikiski was the third straight game SoHi didn’t play all 80 minutes.
“They are clearly improving from game to game toward the end of the season, which is what you should be doing,” Love said of the Bulldogs. “We came out and played a little weak and soft and not prepared.”
With SoHi’s regular season over, Love said coming out slow will no longer work.
“I think probably the best game we played all year was against Grace,” Love said. “Ever since that game, we’ve only played half of the game.
“I’m not happy about that going into the conference tournament.”
The Bulldogs also lost to SoHi 14-1 on April 20 and 7-1 on May 3. Nikiski coach Angie Coelho said the goal was to get it to 5-1 on Friday.
With 17 minutes gone in the second half, Nikiski had it at 5-0 when midfielder Avery White was hurt and had to leave the game.
The Bulldogs had a penalty kick three minutes later that missed, then SoHi tacked on two late goals.
“It got away from us there at the end,” Coelho said. “I think morale really went down after my gal got carted off.”
Coelho said White, one of the team’s leading scorers and a big presence in the midfield, will be done for the season. The coach said White was having a great game before the injury.
“She’s a great player and it will be sad to have her on the sideline,” Coelho said. “Her team’s gonna go do her proud.”
The Soldotna boys had a 6-0 lead at the half against the Bulldogs, who had 10 players.
SoHi had plenty of chances in the first 11 minutes, but couldn’t score.
“(Zac Buckbee) took it upon himself to dribble through two, three or four guys, put the ball in the back of the net, and kind of get the scoring going,” SoHi coach Erik Dolphin said.
Simon Willets then scored three goals in three minutes for SoHi, and Lane Hillyer and Boone Theiler added tallies before the end of the half.
In the second half, the goals came from Andrew Cox, Theiler, Riley Cronin, Samuel Strouse and Brody Linton.
“It was the last game of the regular season and it had to be a win,” Dolphin said. “We’re gonna be the No. 1 seed, which means we’ll see these guys again next Friday.”
Dolphin added it was nice to see Cox get a goal in the senior’s last regular season game. Dolphin said Cox has been phenomenal on defense all season.
Seth Payne was able to score off a corner kick in the second half for the Bulldogs.
“We gave it our best,” Nikiski coach Horst Haunold wrote in a text message. “We gave SoHi a good practice.
“I’m proud of the boys playing short. The boys are learning and they all will be there next year.”
Jacob Martin had several highlight saves in net for Nikiski.
Kenai girls 6, Palmer 0
The visiting Kardinals won in Friday nonconference play to move to 13-0-0 overall.
Maddie Malone had the shutout for the Kardinals.
Kenai scored four times in the first half. In the fifth minute, Kate Wisnewski scored on a Kylee Verkuilen assist. In the ninth minute, Ella Yragui finished a cross from Brynnen Hanson.
In the 20th minute, Kori Moore scored on assists from Rylie Sparks and Chloe Grimm. Moore scored again in the 32nd minute on assists from Cali Holmes and Verkuilen.
The final two goals came late in the second half. Wisnewski headed in a Verkuilen corner, and Yragui finished on a pass from Sparks.
Palmer boys 1, Kenai 1
The host Moose and Kardinals played to a nonconference tie Friday to move Kenai’s record to 8-3-3 overall.
Wade James equalized early in the second half for the Kards, then nearly won it later when he hit the post.
In a text message, Kenai coach Shane Lopez wrote that Daniel Shelden and Landen Cialek were great on defense, while Aloshia Cross did a solid job building up the attack from the midfield.
Wasilla girls 3, Homer 0
The host Warriors notched a nonconference victory Friday to drop the Mariners to 5-9-0 overall.
Wasilla 1 boys 1, Homer 1
The Mariners and host Warriors played to a nonconference tie Friday. The Mariners are 4-6-3 overall.
Lucas Story had a goal in the first half for Homer.
“We worked to connect passes throughout the whole game,” Homer coach Adam Diaz wrote in a text message. “Wasilla was playing with heart and determination. We matched that and the score reflects that as well.
“Overall, we are taking every opportunity to grow in any way while we are in the Valley.”
Soldotna’s Jazzalynn McDonald and Nikiski’s Celina Martinez battle for the ball Friday, May 12, 2023, at Nikiski High School in Nikiski, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna’s Daniel Heath and Johnny Wardas try to head the ball in Nikiski’s goal Friday, May 12, 2023, at Nikiski High School in Nikiski, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Nikiski goalie Emma Weeks makes a save against Soldotna on Friday, May 12, 2023, at Nikiski High School in Nikiski, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
