It was a great Saturday for bird watching and viewing the Kardinals sweeping the Peninsula Conference Soccer Tournament and earning a pair of automatic berths to the upcoming ASAA Division II State Soccer Championships.
The Kenai girls defeated #1 seed Homer in an overtime championship game and the #1 seed Kenai boys followed with a penalty-shot, shootout victory over Soldotna.
Peninsula Conference: Girls Championship
Kenai Girls 1 -Homer 0
It took 100 minutes of championship soccer for the Kenai girls to record a 1-0 title-game victory over previously undefeated in conference Homer.
Seanna Swanson, off the Kardinal bench, recorded the only goal of the contest with a shot to the back of the net late in the second, 10-minute overtime. Kenai held off the Mariners for the remainder of the overtime period before the final whistle crowned the Kardinal girls Peninsula Conference champions.
The Kenai girls entered the tournament as the #2 seed and defeated #3 Soldotna in the tournament’s first game on Friday 1-0 with a single Kenai goal scored by Kori Moore in the final two minutes of regulation.
The Kenai girls and Homer girls earn the two Peninsula Conference automatic berths and the Soldotna girls will wait to see if they are awarded an at-large berth following the conference tournaments around the state.
The Kardinal girls earn their first Peninsula Conference championship.
Girls 3rd Place Game-Saturday
SoHi Girls 11- Nikiski 0
The Star girls earned third-place with an 11-0 shutout of Nikiski. SoHi’s Jolie Widaman, Co-Peninsula Conference MVP, led the offense with a three-goal hat trick.
Peninsula Conference: Boys Championship
Kenai Boys 1 -SoHi 0
The top-seeded Kenai boys held-off the Soldotna Stars for a 1-0 Peninsula Conference championship game victory on Saturday, in a double-overtime, penalty-shot classic between the Kards and Stars at Nikiski High School.
After 100 minutes of scoreless soccer in the boys championship game, The Kardinals and Stars stepped-up for a penalty-kick, tiebreaker for the boys conference title.
Kenai’s Sam Baisden, Enrique Mercado, Wade James and Joe Hamilton converted shootout kicks, for a 4-1 shootout total, to secure the 1-0 Kenai victory.
Both Kenai’s Gavin Langham and SoHi’s Gehret Medcoff turned-in outstanding performances in goal.
The Kenai boys and SoHi boys both receive automatic berths to the 2022 Division II ASAA State Soccer Championships.
Boys 3rd-Place Game
Homer boys 11, Nikiski 1
Peninsula Conference All-Conference Teams
Girls
Girls Co-MVPs — Kylie Verkuilen, Kenai; Jolie Widaman, Soldotna.
Girls Co-Coaches of the Year — Angie Coelho, Nikiski; Dan Verkuilen, Kenai.
Girls First Team — Debbie Weisser, Homer; Emma Weeks, Nikiski; Katharine Bramante, Soldotna; Sela Weisser, Homer; Cali Holmes, Kenai; Bay Bloom, Soldotna; Valerie Villegas, Kenai; Kate Wisnewski, Kenai.
Girls Second Team — Felicia Weisser, Homer; Caleigh Glassmaker, Soldotna; Mariah McGuire, Homer; Izzy Dye, Homer; Kori Moore, Kenai.
Boys
Boys MVP — Joe Hamilton, Kenai.
Boys Co-Coaches of the Year — Adam Diaz, Homer; Shane Lopez, Kenai.
Boys First Team — Zac Buckbee, Soldotna; Wade James, Kenai; Hunter Green, Homer; Casey Otis, Homer; Quinn Cox, Soldotna; Samuel Baisden, Kenai; Koda Poulin, Kenai; Kaiden Bogie, Homer; Kevin Love, Nikiski.
Boys Second Team — Gehret Medcoff, Soldotna; Hamilton Hunt, Soldotna; Owen Pitzman, Homer; Ky Calvert, Kenai; Rocco Flora, Homer.
