Sports

South, West Valley girls to meet for state soccer championship

After prevailing in two matches against conference rivals, the South High girls soccer team is back in the title game of the state soccer tournament, where the Wolverines will finally face a team not located in South Anchorage.

Using two goals from senior Kayla Sims, South topped south-side rival Service 2-1 Friday in a semifinal that was a rematch of last year's state championship. The victory came a day after the Wolverines blanked south-side rival Dimond 3-0 in the first round.

Now South faces another rematch, this one against West Valley of Fairbanks. The Wolf Pack beat Kenai Central 2-0 in Friday's other semifinal to return to the championship match for the first time since 2012, when they suffered a 4-0 bruising from South.

Saturday's 3:15 p.m. finale at Bartlett High will mark the fourth time in five years that South has played for the championship. Each time it has made it that far, it has won it all.

Sims said the Wolverines will need to bring the same intensity and emotion Saturday that they needed to turn back their Anchorage rivals.

As the defending champions, "We have that weight on our back," she said. "We definitely have to keep pumped up, because any team is gonna be on their toes. They have that motivation."

West Valley is particularly motivated. Sarah Walling-Bell, one of the Wolf Pack's four seniors, said she's been waiting three years to get back to the championship match. Getting another shot at the Wolverines makes it all the better.

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"I'd love to play South," Walling-Bell said after West Valley's victory in the first of two girls matches played in brilliant sunshine at Bartlett.

Be careful what you wish for. South looked tough against Service in a competitive match filled with scoring chances for both teams and occasional chippy play.

"We've battled with them pretty hard throughout the year," Service coach Mark Cascolan said. "We knew it was gonna be a matter of who was up for it more.

"I thought we had the majority of the chances. They just finished theirs."

The game looked like a title match, and Sims said it felt like one.

"Yesterday's felt like one too," she said. "Tough bracket."

All three of Anchorage's tournament teams wound up on the same side of the bracket in the eight-team field, thanks to pairings determined with a random draw by the Alaska School Activities Association. Anchorage schools historically reign in girls' soccer -- since 1983, only one state crown has gone to a school outside of Anchorage (Juneau in 2004) and 23 of 32 title matches have featured all-Anchorage showdowns.

Service, a powerhouse that has earned 17 state titles, the last two in 2008 and 2009, was trying to get back into the title game for the third straight year.

"They played with so much urgency," said Sims, noting that Service's seniors -- a group led by Gatorade Player of the Year Haleigh Van Allen -- will finish their high school careers without a state championship.

Sims gave South a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute, scoring on a long header off a throw-in by Megan Currier.

Service answered quickly with a penalty kick in the eighth minute by Van Allen, who will play Division I soccer next fall at Northern Arizona.

Both goalkeepers -- Service sophomore Brianna Linnell and South junior Jacquiline Burke -- came up with multiple saves after that until Sims struck again on a header off a Currier thrown-in in the 32nd minute.

The second half featured almost as many scoring opportunities as the first half, and both keepers remained sharp.

"Did the better team win? No," Cascolan said. "But (South) played with a lot more grit."

In West Valley, South faces a team whose 18-player roster includes seven freshmen.

"They've outdone themselves," Walling-Bell said. "It's incredible. I don't really look at them as freshmen."

Freshman Grace Marks and sophomore Rio Geiger scored goals for West Valley, which played like a team that's been together for more than a couple of months. Walling-Bell said team cohesiveness was a goal from the start of the season.

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"My freshman year we finished second at state, and the reason that happened was because we were so close off the field," she said. "This year us seniors wanted to make sure we fostered an inclusive environment."

West Valley dictated the pace of play, got off more shots and maintained possession for most of the match against a Kardinals team coming off a 110-minute first-round win over Juneau, a 3-2 triumph decided by penalty kicks.

The long match on Thursday took its toll Friday, Kardinals coach Dan Verkuilen said.

"We were a little slow," he said. "We were a step off on a few things. But nobody shut down. They played right till the end. Obviously they were gassed, but their heart is huge."

ASAA/First National Bank State Soccer Championships

Friday's Results:

Semifinals (at Bartlett High)

West Valley 2, Kenai Central 0

South 2, Service 1

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Consolation (at Eagle River High)

Wasilla 3, Juneau-Douglas 2

Soldotna 2, Dimond 1

Saturday's Matches (at Bartlett High):

8 a.m. — Wasilla vs. Soldotna (4th place)

11:30 a.m. — Service vs. Kenai Central (3rd place)

3:15 p.m. — West Valley vs. South (championship)

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