By JEREMIAH BARTZ
Frontiersman.com
PALMER — Colony and Wasilla capped the Palmer Hockey Showdown with victories during the final day of the round-robin tournament Saturday at the MTA Events Center in Palmer.
The Knights scored three unanswered goals during the win over the Mariners, and finished 3-0 in the tourney. Colony, one of three undefeated squads in the eight-team tournament, placed third in the tournament standings. Colony, Dimond and West all finished 3-0, and each squad allowed only four total goals. Dimond was crowned champion after outscoring opponents 26-4. West was second with a goal differential of 11. Colony had a goal differential of eight.
Blake Reid, Mitchell Diltz and Owen MacDonald all scored for the Knights during the win over the Mariners. Lee Lowe gave Homer the first lead of the game, with a power-play goal late in the first period.
Colony outshot Homer 36-18. Hunter Warren made 33 saves for the Mariners. Bryant Marks stopped 18 shots for the Knights.
Wasilla used a pair of third-period goals to beat Soldotna 4-2 on Saturday.
Soldotna’s Alex Montague scored with 23 seconds left in the second period to tie the score at 2. Carson LeCren provided the game-winner for the Warriors with a goal at the 5:48 mark of the third. Zach Roush added an empty-netter.
Aaron Campbell made 17 saves for Wasilla, and Soldotna’s Mackenzie Powell finished with 20 saves in the loss. Wyatt Medcoff was named the Player of the Tournament for SoHi.
In other action Saturday, Dimond crushed host Palmer 12-1 and West skated by Juneau 8-1.
Friday
PALMER — Sometimes it’s the unscripted play that produces the results.
Colony’s Kaden Ketchum threw in a puck from beyond the blue line that found the back of the net to spark a four-goal third period, and the Knights posted a 6-2 win over Soldotna during the second day of the Palmer Hockey Showdown on Friday at the MTA Events Center in Palmer.
“That’s what we told them. Get the puck on the net and go get rebounds,” Colony head coach Ron Stadem said after the win.
Ayden Attungana notched a hat trick in the win, scoring two of his three goals during the final period.
“Ayden got a couple of goals on rebounds. Playing hard, going to the net,” Stadem said. “Playing the way we’re supposed to play.”
Colony held a 2-0 lead after the first, and needed to rebound from SoHi’s two-goal second to grab the nonconference win. Stadem said after the second period, the conversation in the locker room was focused on how the Knights needed to play.
“We came out a lot stronger. It worked for us,” Stadem said.
Attungana and Carson McLaughlin scored during the first period to give the Knights the 2-0 lead. Early in the second, Soldotna’s Galen Brantley III chased down a loose puck in the Knights defensive zone. Colony goalie Kaylee Norman ventured out of the crease to try to swipe away the puck. Brantley III caught the puck between the circles and made a move to the net. Late in the second, Soldotna’s Gavin Haakenson put a shot on goal. Trent Powell knocked in the rebound for the Stars to tie the game at 2.
Stadem said he was pleased to see Norman respond and bounce back from Soldotna’s two-goal second period.
“She got her head back on her shoulders and really played well the rest of the game,” Stadem said.
Norman made 24 saves in the win.
Earlier in the day, Homer beat Wasilla 3-1. Alden Ross, Tucker Weston and Isaiah Nevak scored for Homer. Langston Bouma notched the lone goal for the Warriors.
Colony 6, Soldotna 2
Palmer Hockey Showdown
Friday, MTA Events Center
First period — 1. Colony- Attungana (Diltz, Satterly) pp 11:01; 2. Colony- McLaughlin (Reid) 9:23.
Second period — 3. Soldotna- Brantley III (Schmelzenbach) 9:18; 4. Soldotna- Powell (Haakenson) 3:15.
Third period — 5. Colony- Ketchum (unassisted) 13:15; 6. Colony- Attungana (McLauglin) 9:45; 7. Colony- Attungana (Jellich) 6:40; 8. Colony- Satterly (Moore, Reid) 5:09.
Shots on goal: Colony 9-4-12—25, Soldotna 9-12-5—26; Saves: Colony- Norman 9-10-5—24, Soldotna- Wirz 7-4-8—19.
Homer 3, Wasilla 1
Palmer Hockey Showdown
Friday, MTA Events Center
First period ‘— 1. Wasilla- Bouma (Goff, Matson) 0:31.
Second period — 2. Homer- Ross (Pitzman, Nevak) 10:06; 3. Homer- Weston (Gilliand, Nevak) 2:21.
Third period — 4. Homer- Nevak (unassisted) 6:06.
Shots on goal: Wasilla 15-12-6—33, Homer 4-12-5—21; Saves: Wasilla- Campbell 4-10-4—18, Homer- Warren 14-12-6—32.
Colony 3, Homer 1
Palmer Hockey Showdown
Saturday, MTA Events Center
First period — 1. Homer- Lowe (Pitzman, Nevak) pp 2:35; 2. Colony- Reid (Jellich, Ewing) 1:08.
Second period — 3. Colony- Diltz (Reid, McLaughlin) 12:09.
Third period — 4. Colony- MacDonald (McLaughlin) 7:03.
Shots on goal: Colony 13-12-11—36, Homer 8-5-5—18; Saves: Colony- Marks 7-5-5—17, Homer- Warren 12-12-10—33.
Wasilla 4, Soldotna 2
Palmer Hockey Showdown
Saturday, MTA Events Center
First period — no scoring.
Second period — 1. Wasilla- A. Goff (Mulneaux) 7:06; 2. Wasilla- Matson (Wolcott) 6:16; 3. Soldotna- Medcoff (Brantley III) 5:25; 4. Soldotna- Montague (Medcoff) 0:23.
Third period — 5. Wasilla- LeCren (Bouma, Matson) 5:48; 6. Wasilla- Roush (unassisted) en 0:33.
Shots on goal: Soldotna 6-9-4—19, Wasilla 7-9-8—24; Saves: Soldotna- Powell 7-7-6—20, Wasilla- Campbell 6-7-4—27.
