The Kenai Kardinal boys defended their Northern Lights Conference soccer title of 2016 with a championship game victory over Colony for the 2017 NLC title. The Kenai girls also qualified to the soccer state tournament with a third-place finish at the conference tournament hosted by Colony High School.
Boys Championship Game: Kenai Boys 3 – Colony 1
The Kenai boys broke a 1-1 halftime tie with two, unanswered goals in the second half; as the Kardinal boys claim the NLC title with a 3-1 victory over Colony.
Kenai scored on a Max Dye goal in the first half and added a pair of goals by Zack Tuttle for the victory. Kenai goalie Tristan Landry recorded the save in goal and was named first-team, all-NLC goalie for his work in the regular season.
The Kardinal boys will be the #1 seed from the NLC for the 2017 ASAA State Soccer Championships, which begin on Thursday, May 25th at Eagle River and Service High Schools
Boys 3rd Place Game: Homer 2 – SoHi 1
The Soldotna Star boys surrendered a pair of second half goals to the Homer Mariners in a 2-1 Homer victory for third place and a spot at the ASAA State Soccer Championships. Alex Montague scored the Star boys only goal. Homer earns the third spot to state in the NLC.
Girls Championship Game: Colony 1 -Wasilla 0
The Colony Knight girls shut out Wasilla 1-0 for the girls NLC crown and the top NLC seed into the state soccer championships.
Girls 3rd Place Game: Kenai 3 – SoHi 2 Penalty Kick tiebreaker
The Kenai Kardinal girls and Soldotna Star girls played the game of the tournament in the girls third-place game on Saturday; both teams battling through regulation time and overtime to set up a penalty kick finale’ for the final spot to the soccer state tournament.
Tied at 2-2 after regulation and two, 10-minute overtimes; the game was decided by penalty kicks–not the five round, penalty kick tie-breaker; but the sudden death penalty kick round which followed.
Still even after the a five, penalty kick round; the first sudden death round ended even with both Kenai’s Lara Creighton and SoHi’s Whitney Wortham converting. In the second round, Kenai’s Samantha Morse netted the game-winner; Kardinal goalie Kailey Hamilton stopped SoHi’s Talon Hagen on the Stars final shot.
2017 Northern Lights Conference All- NLC Team
All-Northern Lights Conference: Pof Y Awards
Girls Player of the Year: Reese Sande, Wasilla
Girls Coach of the Year: Jeremy Johnson, Colony
Boys Player of the Year: Zack Tuttle, Kenai
Boys Coach of the Year: Joel Reemtsma, Kenai
Girls First Team:
Amy Hatter, Grace Christian; Madison Wakaliuk, Colony; Ali McCarron, Homer; Rebecca Miller, Kenai; Aspen Ruth, Houston; Alia Donley, Wasilla; Maddy Morgan, Grace Christian; Esmerelda Lopez, Kodiak; Mykaela McMullen, Colony; Ally Hull, Wasilla; Gabby Wakaliuk, Colony; Abi Tuttle, Soldotna; Sahara Iverson, Colony; Reese Sande, Wasilla.
Boys First Team:
Zack Tuttle, Kenai; Eli Sheridan, Soldotna; Julio Rodriquez, Kodiak; Caleb Wood, Grace Christian; Alex Montague, Soldotna; Simon Dye, Homer; Tristan Landry, Kenai; Augustine Mendoza, Wasilla; Luke Beiser, Kenai; Cade Johnstone, Colony; Charles Rohr, Homer; Maxwell Dye, Kenai; Noah Krozel, Colony; Kyle Dearborn, Colony.
Girls Second Team:
Lara Creighton, Kenai; Kiley Fish, Palmer; Megan Pitzman, Homer; Brenna Eubank, Kenai; Ryann Cannava, Soldotna; Abby Crawford, Wasilla; Samantha Morse, Kenai; Avery Parker, Palmer; Alexis Friesen, Wasilla; Ashlynn Cornelison, Colony; Madison Zmuda, Colony; Journey Miller, Soldotna; Jana Jenkins, Colony; India Otto, Grace; Kim Schaezlein, Grace; Shayla Donley, Wasilla; Cassi Holmes, Kenai; Denali Whitted, Houston; Jodie Richey, Wasilla; Holly Makar, Grace; Cassie Kapuniai, Houston.
Boys Second Team:
Addison Downing, Soldotna; Martin Jones, Colony; Oliver Beck, Homer; Paul Kopp, Grace; Braydon Goodman, Kenai; Kevin Ramos, Kenai; Caleb Hall, Colony; Johnnie Burton, Palmer; Charlie Menke, Homer; Caleb Covington, Colony; Kevin Leach; Villi Sauchuk, Wasilla; Aaron Deleon, Kodiak; Sullivan Menard, Colony; Yasent Oliver, Kodiak; Miles Belanger, Grace; Eric Kolosov, Wasilla; Connor Merriner, Grace.
