Razdolna and Kachemak Selo schools joined forces with Voznesenka School to form a full-fledged girls varsity team, ready to compete with schools from across the state. Last year, the team played at club level. Vozeneska played their first home game against Nikiski on Monday, April 25 on the Homer High turf.

The Nikiski Bulldogs beat the Voznesenka Cougars in the rain-filled game, finishing with a final score of 10-1. Faena Basargin scored the Cougar’s only goal on a penalty kick in the second half.

Nikiski’s Zykiah Coonah scored four goals, Deidra Lamping scored three, Rylee Jackson scored two and Molly Cason scored the final goal of the game.

“They’re a young team and they don’t have a lot of experience,” Zimmerman said of Voznesenka. “They’ve definitely made improvements from last season. It’s good to see them building their program.”

There is no boys soccer team, due to the school’s small populations, the schools have football and wrestling for the boys and soccer and cross-country running for the girls, said head soccer coach and Voznesenka School reading and math intervention coordinator Rachel Allmendinger.

“With a bigger school you can have all kinds of sports but with our smaller population we have to focus our efforts,” Allmendinger said.

Getting the girls excited about the soccer team was not difficult, Allmendinger said. Currently there are 12 girls on the team. The main challenge as a Russian Old Believer team was finding uniforms that were culturally appropriate for the girls, as well as ensuring no games were scheduled on holy days.

“All the girls wear dresses they make themselves and they’re very long. That’s the way they are raised; they wear dresses that go to the floor and maybe sleeves to the wrist. We had to find shorts that weren’t that short,” Allmendinger said. “It involved coming to the community … and working so everyone has a good experience.”

Staff Report by the Peninsula Clarion contributed reporting.

Anna Frost can be reached at anna.frost@homernews.com.