Kenai Peninsula Soccer Club has big weekend at State Cup

The Kenai Peninsula Soccer Club had a big weekend, hosting the Alaska Youth State Cup for the first time since 2009 and having a team win the State Cup for the first time since 2015.

KPSC’s Under-13 girls team, known as the Kenai Kicks, defeated Alaska Rush 2-1 in overtime in the final Sunday at Kenai Middle School.

“I’m so proud of the girls, and they deserve it,” Kicks head coach Scott Bloom said. “We’re at such a disadvantage being from Kenai and having to travel for almost every game and not being able to play on turf all winter.

“They work so hard, and they’re just all a great group of kids.”

Erik Dolphin, director of soccer operations for KPSC, said the last time the area hosted the State Cup was in 2009.

That’s also the last time a girls team from the KPSC won a State Cup title. In fact, that title happened on the same field the Kicks used Sunday.

Dolphin helped coach both those teams, as well as the last team from KPSC to win a State Cup — a boys squad in 2015.

Bloom said the Kicks peaked at the right time to beat the Rush. The Kicks did not win their first two tournaments this season — the Alaska Airlines Cup in Anchorage and the Chugiak Summer Classic.

At the Far North Invitational in Anchorage from July 11 to 14, the Kicks took the title without allowing a goal. The Rush were not at that tournament, though.

At the State Cup, the Kicks went 4-0 in round-robin play, outscoring opponents 26-0 and beating the Rush for the first time this year.

In the championship, the Rush converted a penalty kick in the first half and led 1-0 after 35 minutes.

“I think the girls were just a little nervous, and we came out flat,” Bloom said. “We have a pressure defense that we apply, and we weren’t pressuring on defense in the first half.

“They got that goal on us, and I think the girls were pretty disappointed, but they came back that second half and started dominating.”

About 20 minutes into the second half, Ari Bloom crossed to Peyton Barber to equalize.

Then in the first of two 10-minute overtime periods, Sydney Wortham created an opportunity for the Kicks that turned into an own goal by the Rush. The Kicks were then able to keep the Rush off the board for the rest of the overtime.

Bloom said the Kicks have been behind the Rush and Cook Inlet Soccer Club for most of the team’s existence.

“I think the difference for us is just the girls themselves,” Bloom said. “They want it so bad. They’re so dedicated.

“We spent at least two practices a week in the Kenai (Rec Center) all winter long.”

Bloom said it’s been nice getting help from Dolphin, from Bloom’s daughters, Bay and Piper, and from Bloom’s wife, Breanna.

The other big assist goes to the KPSC.

“I’ve been with the club a long time, and there’s a lot of new energy this year,” Scott Bloom said.

That allowed the area to host the State Cup. Bloom said this was the first time his squad played club teams from off the central Kenai Peninsula on the central peninsula in official matches.

The coach said that at many of the Anchorage tournaments, the team is waking up at 3 or 4 a.m. to get to Anchorage in time for the first games.

“It was huge for us to be at home, and for our kids to finally be the ones that get to sleep in their own beds at night,” Bloom said.

The coach added the energy from the community was vital in seeing out the overtime win.

“We had so many family and friends watching, and other club members,” Bloom said. “The whole community came out and supported us, and that felt really great.”

Team members are Elizabeth Backstrom, Barber, Morgan Berger, Avi Bloom, Serena Bowen, Morgan Buckbee, Bryan Hill, Lily Hough, Emery Kingery, Ryanne Lingenfelter, Raegan Lingenfelter, Svea Miller, Kemberly Mills, Addie Moore and Wortham.

By winning the State Cup, the Kicks qualified for the United States Youth Soccer Far West Regional Championships, which will be in June 2025 at a location to be announced.

Brian Lux, the state technical director for the Alaska Youth Soccer Association, said Alaska is the first of the 54 different state soccer associations to have their State Cup. That’s because with school programs and the short Alaska summer, this time of year is the only option.

“So the players have a lot of time to prepare and fundraise,” Lux said. “Alaska, unfortunately, is never going to host a regional tournament, so we’re always traveling.”

Lux also runs the Alaska State Cup as part of his duties. In September 2023, he traveled to Kenai and found the fields at Kenai middle and high schools, and the Kenai Sports Complex, could host the State Cup.

The tournament, which ran from Thursday to Sunday, ended up playing on seven fields at the school, and one at the sports complex.

Lux said 88 teams played a total of 167 games at the tournament. He said each team has about 15 players, so that’s about 1,300 players coming to the event.

“Then all the families, friends, grandmas and grandpas that come along,” Lux said. “So it probably brought 3,000 or 4,000 people to the area for the weekend.”

Lux said the conversations and experiences he had over the weekend indicated the tournament brought the central peninsula a nice economic bump.

“Not that they necessarily needed it after a month of dipnetting, but I think it was a good weekend for the community,” he said. “It brought a lot of people down, and hopefully it brought a lot of dollars.”

Lux credited volunteers, led by Steve Bowen, Jennifer Wardas and Amanda Barber of KPSC, with pulling off a great event. He also thanked all the great sponsors that made the weekend happen.

“There were 20 or 30 different people helping, so I just get to kind of be the one to say, ‘Hey, thank you for doing that,’” Lux said. “It takes an army, and there was definitely an army of volunteers down there that we’re really appreciative of.”

Lux doesn’t think the State Cup will take so long to return.

“The club and the area have shown this can be a really positive experience,” he said. “You can definitely pull it off here. So I’m hopeful it comes back sooner.”