Homer High School’s boys and girls varsity soccer teams played through the cold rain on Saturday, each earning wins against Eagle River.
Soccer games are only cancelled in the case of snow, said Homer High School Athletic Director Chris Perk. Despite the wet weather, the teams were not thrown off course.
“The rain is never a surprise. I wasn’t surprised and neither were the girls and they didn’t let it bother them,” said girls varsity soccer head coach Mike Tozzo. “Both teams had to play in the rain and it was a tough physical game.”
After the first games of the season ended in losses against Kenai in away games on April 5, the Homer teams were happy to make their first home game of the season a win.
“It’s nice to win one at home, right? They played good in the rain today,” said boys varsity soccer head coach Warren Waldorf.
The teams play Nikiski at home on Thursday, April 14. Girls varsity will play the first game at 4 p.m., followed by the boys at 6 p.m.
Homer girls beat Eagle River, 1-0
The girls’ soccer game was a battle of strong defense and offense on both sides. When either team got the ball close enough to the net to make a shot, the goalie blocked the goal.
“We had to really win the 50-50 battles back there to get it up to our forwards so that they had the opportunities that they did,” said freshman defender Brenna McCarron.
“I would call this two games in a row where the defense was a wall,” Tozzo said. “Our center line down the middle and our defenders that make that cross on the field, I think they’re some of the best on the peninsula and I’m going to stick to that until I see otherwise.”
The score remained 0-0 for the majority of the game, until McCarron broke through and scored the game’s sole goal.
“I was just wide open at the top of the box and I just went for it,” McCarron said.
Going into the game, the Homer girls were unsure about their opponents’ skill level. They only knew that they had lost to Kenai by one point the day before, which told them that they would be a tough game, said junior midfielder Uliana Reutov.
“We just came out confident, tried to get ourselves into the game and focused,” Reutov said.
Boys triumph with 3-1 win
The Homer boys played the rainy game with eleven players and no substitutions, due to injured or absent players, Waldorf said.
The highlight of the game for Waldorf was the three goals scored, he said.
Senior Oliver Beck scored the first goal of the game in the first half of the game with an assist from sophomore Simon Dye, who sent Beck the ball via a corner kick.
Eighteen minutes into the second half, Eagle River tied up the game with their first and only goal of the day. Dye answered their goal seven minutes later, bringing the score to 2-1.
Shortly before the close of the game, sophomore Quinn Alward scored the final goal with an assist from Beck. Despite Eagle River’s attempts for another goal, the Homer boys were able to keep the ball out of their net until the whistle blew, signaling their victory.
