A season’s worth of Fairbanks soccer rivalry was settled in 15 minutes as the West Valley High School boys team downed Lathrop High School 2-0 in the final minutes of their quarterfinal match of the ASAA D1 State Championships at Service High School in Anchorage on Thursday.
The Railbelt Conference rivals faced off twice in regular season play, including a tie in their first home match of the season.
West Valley finished the season ranked second in conference (6-1-3) while the Malemutes were third in conference (5-3-2), resulting in another contest in the opening round of the state tournament.
On Thursday, the Wolfpack failed to find their flow in the first half of the match. Meanwhile, the Malemute offense peppered West Valley goal keeper Kyan Harnum with shots on goal.
“We struggled in the first half just possessing the ball,” Wolfpack coach Steve Shaner said.
Those struggles allows the Malemutes several breakaway shots that Harnum managed to counter in spectacular fashion, including a sliding tackle well out in front of the box.
“It’s really stressful to be honest,” Harnum said. “But I just play the game how I’ve always played it and I’m just kinda in the zone.”
The efforts of Harnum and Lathrop goalkeeper Elijah Hoop prevented either team from finding the net first half. The midway point ended with the score 0-0.
West Valley came out stronger in the second half, possessing the ball and forcing the Malemutes to contend with attacks near the Lathrop net.
“We came together at half time and figured about some of the stuff we were lacking on,” Shaner said.
The Wolfpack finally found success in a goal from Owen Bateman with under 14 minutes left in regulation play. Bateman booted it in off a pass that dropped directly in front of the Malemutes net, putting the Wolfpack up 1-0.
“Usually we’re considered a second half team and we wanted to turn up, we wanted to show up,” the Wolfpack’s Alex Emers said.
As the final minutes of the game ticked away, West Valley showed up again when the Wolfpack’s Jesse Crane completed a slide tackle and pass combo to Emers, who flew past the Malemutes defensive line and buried the ball in the net for the 2-0 Wolfpack win.
“Every time we go against West Valley it’s tough. It’s a great match up for us,” Lathrop coach Trevon Matthews said.” We held tight until the last 15 minutes. I’m just proud of these boys”
With the win, the Wolfpack advance to a semifinal matchup against second ranked South Anchorage High School on Friday at 7 p.m.
Lathrop will face Diamond High School in consolation play on Friday at 11 am.
Contact freelance writer Selena Moore at moore.selenaa@gmail.com.
