Mustangs

This state tournament classic was elevated by the Lynx having to play down a player for most of the game after a red card was issued to one of their players early on.  Down 1-0 in the final 10 minutes of regulation, Dimond forced overtime on a goal by Sam Castle.  In soccer, overtime consists of two 20-minute halves, and the Mustangs quickly surged ahead once more on a free kick goal by All-American Kelly Cobb.  Later in OT, Dimond tied it...

Kelly Cobb scored five goals to carry Chugiak to a 6-1 rout of Wasilla in the quarterfinals of the ASAA soccer tournament on Thursday. Cobb, bound for Duke in the fall, will lead the Mustangs into Friday's girls semifinal against defending state champion Dimond. The Lynx took down Soldotna to reach the round of four, 4-1.   In Thursday's only one-goal contest, the South Anchorage girls downed West Valley, 1-0 on a goal by Colleen Carpenter with less than five minutes left in regulation.

Since 2007, the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame has elected a new class of athletes, coaches, and contributors.  On Tuesday, Hall of Fame staff announced the addition of new awards that will given presented at the 2012 induction ceremony on February 28th in Anchorage. The Joe Floyd Award-- For Significant and Lasting Contribution to Alaska Through Sports:  Steve Nerland and Don Winchester.  Both Anchorage men are heavily involved in sports facility upgrades, including the installation of turf fields in Anchorage, and the push for money allotted to such projects.  Nerland also coaches baseball at Service High School, while Winchester is a noted sports historian in Alaska.

Between them, Dimond and South Anchorage have win the state’s last five 4A volleyball titles. Despite that history, the two rivals have never met head-to-head for the ultimate prize. That’s about to change Saturday after the Lynx and Wolverines took down their semifinal opponents to set up a rematch of last week's Cook Inlet Conference final, which was won by South. The Wolverines defeated West Valley in four games, 25-12, 25-16, 26-28, 25-10, while the Lynx swept Chugiak, 25-23, 25-17, 26-24.

There was a persistent "ping" sound at Mulcahy Stadium on Friday for round one of the double elimination State American Legion Baseball Tournament.  25 runs were scored in the first two games.  In the opener, seventh seeded Kenai defeated Bartlett, 8-6.  Brian Rowe went 3 for 4 for the Twins, who scored the go-ahead run on an error in the bottom of the seventh inning. Eighth-seeded Chugiak got off to a thundering start versus West, the number nine seed.  The Mustangs scored five runs in the top of the first inning en route to a 9-2 victory.  Conner Cimmiyotti drove in four runs in his first two at-bats, and Cameron Fritz delivered three RBI's for Chugiak.

The Kenai Twins won twice on Friday to make the championship round of the state American Legion Baseball Tournament.  All they have to do now is duplicate that same feat to win their first title since 1995. Josiah Covey delivered game-ending RBI's in both of Kenai's victories in the elimination bracket on Friday as the Twins knocked off South, 10-9 in 11 innings and then took out Eagle River, 9-8. Against the Wolverines, A.J. Hull led off the bottom of the 11th with his fourth hit of the game, a triple that put him in scoring position.  Covey hit a sacrifice fly to send Hull home to lift Kenai to victory.

Two of Friday’s semifinal games of the ASAA soccer tournament went more than 110 minutes before a winner could be decided.  In the first girls game of the day, 2010 champion Dimond took down Chugiak, 3-2 on penalty kicks despite being shorthanded for more than half the game. The Lynx trailed the Mustangs 1-0 at halftime and dealt with the adversity of a player receiving a red card.  That meant Dimond had to play nine against 10 the rest of the way.  Dimond’s Sam Castle tied it up with less than 15 minutes left in regulation to send the game to overtime.  The teams exchanged goals in the 30 minute extra session, setting up a round of penalty kicks won by the Lynx.  Dimond will face Cook Inlet Conference rival South in the championship game Saturday at 3:15.  The Wolverines took down Juneau in the other semifinal, 2-0, on goals by Madison Meins and Kaitlyn Zanders.  In the boys semifinals, South outlasted Dimond in penalty kicks, 2-1 to advance to its sixth state final in program history.  The Wolverines’ Kirby Hutto tallied  in the first half, and after Dimond’s Embrima Barrow scored in the second half, South held on for the win in the shootout session.

To a lot of high schools, a perfect regular season is worth a banner -- but only a state championship gets you a ring. Saturday offers West High a chance to secure a second straight 8 and 0 season with a victory over Bartlett -- as well as redemption for a first-game playoff loss last year. This year’s seniors and the Eagles’ coaching staff recall the heartbreak, but one thing will make 2010 playoff preparations easier: West's familiarity with the Bartlett Golden Bears.

High school football will look a little bit different next year because of a new site and a new division.   At the most recent board meeting of Alaska Sports Athletic Association (ASAA), members the group voted to add a Medium School Division to Alaska high school football, which prior to the decision consisted of a Small School Division and Large School Division. Prep football has been a growth industry in Alaska over the past few years. Schools like Thunder Mountain, Ketchikan, Monroe Catholic, Barrow and Delta Junction have all added football programs.

The Alaska high school football season is down to 11 days and eight teams. The quarterfinals are complete, and it's time to start thinking about Round 2: the semifinals.   In the large schools quarterfinals, the upset bug was conspicuous by its absence. All four higher seeds prevailed over the weekend: West, Juneau, Colony and Service are moving on, West Valley, Chugiak, Dimond and Palmer are done for the year. West started slowly, but recovered to beat a tough West Valley team 20-12.