Two games, four hours, one day.
That is exactly what is going to happen for the West Valley Wolfpack's boys and girls soccer teams on Thursday. And it won't get any easier because both teams will be going up against the same school in the same city, as the Alaska School Activities Association / National Bank Alaska 2008 Boys and Girls State Soccer Championships kickoff today at high noon.
GIRLS: WEST VALLEY WOLFPACK VS. SOUTH (ANCHORAGE) WOLVERINES...THURSDAY, NOON
The Wolfpack girls had a spectacular Mid Alaska Conference season going an amazing 8-0-2, as Greg Gibson's squad clinched not only the conference title, but also a berth to the state tournament with a 2-0 win over the Eielson Ravens on Friday.
Their first-round opponent will be the South (Anchorage) Wolverines, who have dominated the state's soccer scene all season long by demolishing their opponents immensely. South is the Cook Inlet Conference champions at 13-1 (17-1 overall). They survived the CIC conference title game last Saturday by beating the Service Cougars, 3-2 at Anchorage Football Stadium, the site of this week's state tournament.
The key to victory for the Wolfpack girls is to completely shutdown three Wolverine players -- Carly Butcher, Amanda Hall, and Whitney Velez -- who tallied up a combined total of 68 goals going into Saturday's conference title game. Head coach Brian Farrell's squad has outscored their opponents a sickening 101-9 in their 18 games played including Saturday's win. The Wolverines' lone loss, a 2-1 loss to the Dimond Lynx. South beat Dimond, 1-0 on Friday to earn the state tournament berth.
BOYS: WEST VALLEY WOLFPACK VS. SOUTH (ANCHORAGE) WOLVERINES...THURSDAY, 2 PM
The Wolfpack easily won the Mid Alaska Conference title last week by beating the Lathrop Malemutes, 2-0, thanks to junior Nick Herzberg, who has been the biggest reason why the Wolfpack boys are entering this year's state tournament undefeated (9-0 MAC; 10-0 overall). Wolfpack coach Alan McGinty will be depending on Herzberg, who knocked in five goals for the Wolfpack in beating the Houston Hawks, 7-0, the Wolfpack's only non-conference opponent of the season back on May 16th.
Nine days prior to that win, West Valley only gave up one goal to the Hutchison Hawks in their 6-1 win. That was the only goal given up by the Wolfpack all season long.
The Wolfpack will be taking on another undefeated boys team in the South (Anchorage) Wolverines, led by their head coach Mike Montgomery, whose team is entering Thursday's matchup with an impressive 16-0-2 record (13-0-1 Cook Inlet Conference).
The Wolverines captured the CIC tournament title on Saturday with a 2-1 win over the Dimond Lynx at Anchorage Football Stadium. They will be bringing a 36-game unbeaten streak into Thursday's game, a streak the Wolfpack would love to end.
- - - BOYS' TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE - - -
Wednesday
Game 1: #4 Kenai Kardinals vs. #5 Service Cougars, 2 pm
Game 2: #3 Dimond Lynx vs. #6 Soldotna Stars, 6 pm
Thursday
Game 3: Kenai - Service Loser vs. Dimond - Soldotna Loser, 10 am
Game 4: #1 South (Anchorage) Wolverines vs. #8 West Valley Wolfpack, 2 pm
Game 5: #2 Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears vs. #7 Colony Knights, 6 pm
Friday
Game 6: South - West Valley Loser vs. Juneau - Colony Loser, 8 am
Game 7: South - West Valley Winner vs. Kenai - Service Winner, noon
Game 8: Juneau - Colony Winner vs. Dimond - Soldotna Winner, 4 pm
Saturday
Game 9: 4th Place Game, 8 am
Game 10: 3rd Place Game, noon
Game 11: State Title Game, 4:30 pm
- - - GIRLS' TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE - - -
Wednesday
Game 1: #4 Soldotna Stars vs. #5 Chugiak Mustangs, noon
Game 2: #2 Service Cougars vs. #7 Colony Knights, 4 pm
Thursday
Game 3: Soldotna - Chugiak Loser vs. Service - Colony Loser, 8 am
Game 4: #1 South (Anchorage) Wolverines vs. #8 West Valley Wolfpack, noon
Game 5: #3 Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears vs. #6 Wasilla Warriors, 4 pm
Friday
Game 6: South - West Valley Loser vs. Juneau - Wasilla Loser, 10 am
Game 7: South - West Valley Winner vs. Soldotna - Chugiak Winner, 2 pm
Game 8: Service - Colony Winner vs. Juneau - Wasilla Winner, 6 pm
Saturday
Game 9: 4th Place Game, 10 am
Game 10: 3rd Place Game, 2 pm
Game 11: State Title Game, 7 pm
**ALL GAMES PLAYED AT ANCHORAGE FOOTBALL STADIUM
~ Lorenzo
