On a Saturday night better suited for American football than “The Beautiful Game” loved the world over, the Service High boys soccer team played some excellent prevent defense to earn its first state championship in 17 years.
Junior Simon Carricaburu’s goal in the first minute of the second half and Service’s superlative defensive effort led to a pressure-packed 1-0 victory over previously unbeaten Dimond.
The Cougars (14-2-1) were rewarded with their first state title since 2004 and their sixth since Alaska high schools started playing the sport in 1983.
Two days before the calendar turns to June, temperatures at the Service High pitch hovered in the low-to-mid-40s by the end of the Division I finale. But it was the host Cougars turning a cold shoulder to Dimond’s offensive thoughts.
After securing the lead, the champs limited the Lynx to four scoring chances and two shots on sophomore goalkeeper Matthew Gordon.
“This whole season, I’d like to think we had good defense,” said sophomore Breckin Fett, who assisted on the lone goal with a beautiful crossing pass and was all over the field from start to finish.
“Dimond had constant pressure,” he said. “We just had to do our best to clear everything out. As long as we got the ball out, we would get time to rest.”
From blocked shots to closed passing lanes, the guys in the white, green and gold kits masterfully closed out the match. Seldom did Service have more than one player on the offensive side of the midfield stripe during the last several minutes.
“It can be tough to do because we all want to keep playing the game,” said veteran Service coach Dan Rufner, a counselor at the school. “This was the third game of the tournament and players are all toast, so the game gets a little uglier at that point.
“It’s not pretty soccer. But it was really pleasing to coach this one because we made a big tactical shift.”
Dimond entered the title match 16-0-0 and hadn’t surrendered a goal in its first two state tournament games. The Lynx won regular-season meetings against Service on April 17 and May 22 by similar 1-0 scores, making it a safe bet the rubber match would also see minimal scoring.
Neither team did much of anything during the scoreless first half.
Carricaburu broke his team’s season scoreless skid against Dimond right as the second half was starting. Positioned about 35 yards out from the goal line on the right side, Fett boomed a bending right-to-left ball into the box. Carricaburu snuck through and bounced a shot past Dimond senior goalie Zav Hajdukovich.
“I had no idea who was in the box,” Fett said. “It was just a rush play and I knew what I had to do. Simon just connected.”
As Service packed in the defense from there on, Dimond pulled out almost all the stops to create a modicum of offense, including using its goalkeeper as an extra attacker late in the match. Hajdukovich may have achieved his “100 Miles in May” in one fell swoop by sprinting the length of the pitch multiple times.
“You do that when you’re desperate, when you need a goal,” said Hajdukovich, who committed earlier this year to play at NCAA Division II California-East Bay. “You get down there and hope to make something happen.
“It’s tiring but we had to try to get one in. I wish we had, but all congratulations goes to Service.”
Only a sophomore, Fett wanted his senior teammates and head coach to cherish what the Cougars accomplished.
“Our whole organization, this really means a lot,” he said. “For our seniors, for Dan — he needed this one.”
Matt Nevala co-hosts “The Sports Guys” on KHAR AM 590 and FM 96.7 (@cbssports590) Saturdays at 11 a.m. Find him on social media at @MNevala9.
ASAA/First National Bank Alaska state soccer championships
Saturday’s results
Championship — Service 1, Dimond 0
Third place — West 2, Colony 1
Fourth place — Chugiak 3, Lathrop 0
All-Tournament team
Quinn Smith, West
Eli Krozel, Colony
Vincent Anderson, Dimond
Hatcher Manning, Service
Zav Hajdukovich, Dimond
Issac Dershin, Lathrop
Robert Brune, West
Matthew Gordon, Service
Grant Jones, Chugiak
Vasko Mladenov, Service
Joseph Butzke, Dimond
Adam Raygor, West Valley