Homer, Alaska - Sports - Kenai sends Homer home with 5-1 loss 04/30/08

Story last updated at 8:47 PM on Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Kenai sends Homer home with 5-1 loss

By MATTHEW CARROLL
Morris News Service - Alaska

Five different Kardinals found the back of the net and senior goaltender Justin Wisniewski allowed just one late goal in his first game since undergoing two knee surgeries in a six-month span in leading Kenai to its first win of the season, 5-1 over visiting Homer.

"This is definitely a much better effort than we had against Grace," Kardinals coach David Landry said, citing his team's 3-3 tie on April 15. "And you can tell we had at least one game under our belt. The boys have had a few chances to be outside now, so that's a big, big difference.

"And again, it's the touches on the ball in a real game situation not so much a game situation but a game surface, and that makes all the difference in the world."

Clearly, it does. One of nine seniors on the team, Cory Toombs, staked Kenai to a 1-0 lead when he one-timed a cross from Kristian Larson past Homer goaltender Ben Daigle in the 10th minute of action. Freshman Codi Woodcock then got into the action seven minutes later when he beat Daigle to a ball in the box and tapped it over the goalie's head for a 2-0 lead.

It stayed that way until halftime thanks, to Wisniewski, who, in his first action since last season's state tournament appearance, collided with Homer's Sam Satre while making a strong save in the 21st minute.

"That's the only way he knows how to play," Landry said of Wisniewski's aggressiveness. "I'm just glad that he survived that, and little by little, he'll start to get some of that confidence back and he won't be thinking about it as much."

Senior McKenan Steinbeck made it 3-0 in the 43rd minute when he beat his defender to the inside and unleashed a shot that rolled past Daigle's right side, and senior Jeremy Narlock padded Kenai's lead five minutes later when he tapped a ball past a diving Daigle.

Satre, though, eventually got the better of Wisniewski in the 69th minute when he beat the Kardinals' keeper to a ball in the box and booted it directly over the goalie's head.

"I was sorry that we had to give up a late goal like we did," Landry conceded, "but that's one of those defensive breakdowns that we need to fix."

Larson then netted a goal around the 76th minute when he corralled a pass through the middle and shot it off Daigle and the post for the 5-1 final.

Kenai now turns its attention to Soldotna, which placed fourth at state last season and hosts the Kardinals on Thursday.

"I never want to lose to them. None of these boys do. That's the nature of the rivalry," Landry said. "I don't care if we're playing pinochle or we're playing tiddlywinks, nobody wants to lose to SoHi. They don't want to lose to us. I think it's healthy."

The Mariners play at Nikiski today, Houston Friday and Wasilla Saturday.

Matthew Carroll is a reporter for the Peninsula Clarion.

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