...Knights with three assists. Colony moves forward to face Homer. The Mariners upset Grace Christian 3-0 during the quarterfinals. Grace was the No. 2 seed from the NLC North. Frontiersman reporter Jeremiah Bartz contributed to this story.

WASILLA - Mere seconds after it looked as if Soldotna standout Cory Carver was about to tie the game, the Stars stood stunned by a two-goal deficit.

WASILLA - The Kenai Kardinals started their 2013 season with a trip to the Valley, but left without a goal after suffering a 1-0 loss to Colony and playing to a scoreless tie with Palmer.

PALMER - Lorie Miner expected Soldotna to provide her team with arguably its most difficult test of the young season.

PALMER - The 2013 season has already been tough on the Palmer Moose for a few reasons. Like basically everyone outside of the Anchorage area, opportunities to play in official matches have been scarce.

PALMER - It's been one step forward and two steps back for the Palmer Moose this season. But this weekend, Palmer head coach Harmony Chadwick finally felt like her team was able to take a step in the right direction.

...home series against Anchorage Christian School Friday at HHS. Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com. Houston girls 68, Skyview 29Saturday, Houston HighSkyview 11-3-7-8-29Houston...

PALMER - Entering the conference championships, the run for the Northern Lights crown was a three-horse race. But by Day 2, it had narrowed down to a heavyweight battle between a pair of Alaska wrestling powers - Wasilla and Colony.

WASILLA - Expecting a tight game, expecting a battle, the Soldotna Stars had a game plan. And for the most part, the plan worked. But Wasilla was able to find a way to grab a late goal, and the win.

WASILLA - A late push in each period Friday night has pushed the Soldotna Stars into state tournament for the first time since 2009. Soldotna scored all four of its goals during the final two minutes of a respective period, and the Stars posted a 4-2 win over Palmer during the North Star Conference Championships semifinals at the Menard Arena in Wasilla. Second-seeded Soldotna also moved into the NSC title game with the win, and will meet top seed Wasilla Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Menard.