So as the Moose prepared to face their crosstown rival for a second time, Palmer head coach Brad Hanson knew his squad would have to use a physical brand of hockey if the Moose hoped to score the regular season sweep.
And that’s exactly what the Moose did.
  
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“We were more physical than when we met the first time,” Palmer head coach Brad Hanson said after the win, referring to his team’s 4-3 victory over the Knights in late November. “They kind of took it to us physically in that first game.”
Junior Michael Hanson and sophomore Dylan Danielowski each netted third-period scores and sophomore goaltender Jonas Naegele stopped 34 Colony shots for the Moose, who improved to 7-3-0 in North Star Conference play.
“The goaltending was good, we moved the puck well and the defense played really well,” Michael Hanson said of the win.
Freshmen Jared Hanson and Nick Reeves also posted first-period goals for Palmer.
Seniors Blake Huppert and Kevin Thygeson scored for the Knights.
Colony head coach Dale Mattson couldn’t doubt his team’s effort in the loss, and was pleased with the play of his steadily improving team that includes a dozen sophomores and juniors on the varsity squad.
What stood out to Mattson as a difference were a pair of Palmer power-play goals.
“Even-strength, it was a real tough game,” Mattson said. “a battle of the Valley rivals playing hard-nosed hockey.”
Reeves and Michael Hanson each scored with the man-advantage.
Otherwise, Mattson felt it came down to a few bounces.
“We got a lot of shots on them,” Mattson said. “We got 36 shots on them and we only put away two. They had a couple good opportunities and they buried them.”
Jared Hanson gave the Moose the early 1-0 with a highlight reel-worthy goal in the first period.
Less than three minutes into the first, Hanson picked up a loose puck that stood in front of the net and made a sleek move to put the shot by Colony netminder Charlie Holman.
“I think any goalie would have let that in,” Mattson said of Palmer’s scoring play. “It was an awesome move. I don’t see how he could have saved it.”
Senior Justin Perkins set up the score by taking a pass from Danielowski and putting a shot on goal. The rebound of Perkins’ shot popped out in front of the crease.
Reeves blasted a shot from the point four seconds into a power play to give the Moose the 2-0 advantage late in the first period.
With less than a minute remaining in the first, Huppert made it a one-goal game with an awesome move of his own.
As the seconds ticked off the first-period clock, Colony senior Risto Paatsama intercepted a Palmer pass near the Moose blue line to create a 2-on-1 opportunity for the Knights. Paatsama sent a quick pass to Huppert who was left alone in front of the Palmer net. Huppert made strong move to the left to pull Naegale out of the crease, quickly moved back to the right and popped the puck into an open hole in the Moose net.
Thygesen also brought the Knights within a goal in the third period.
Midway through the final frame, the senior forward tapped in a rebound created by a Chris Breck shot to cut the Palmer lead to 3-2.
Like Colony’s first goal, the Knights’ second tally was created by a Moose turnover in their own zone.
Breck swiped the pass just beyond the blue line, quickly motored into the Moose zone and put a wrist shot on goal. Naegele made the initial save, but left the puck near the crease.
The contest marked the final conference game of the regular season for both programs. Now each is looking forward to the NSC Tournament, which starts Thursday at the Homer Ice Arena.
Palmer (7-3-0) is the third seed and should face host Homer (0-10-0) in the quarterfinals. Colony (4-6-0) is the fourth seed and will most likely face Kenai Central (2-8-0) in the first round.
The tournament bracket and pairings are scheduled to be released Monday by Homer High School.
Winners of each quarterfinal match will move onto the semifinal round on Friday.
Top seeds Wasilla (9-1-0) and Soldotna (8-2-0) are already in the semifinals after receiving first-round byes.
The championship game is slated for Saturday at noon at the Homer Ice Arena. The teams that advance to the title game earn the conference’s two berths to the state tournament.
See the Tuesday edition of the Frontiersman for more on the 2008 NSC Tournament.
Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.
Palmer 4, Colony 2
Friday, Palmer Ice Arena
Colony 1-0-1—2
Palmer 2-0-2—4
First period — 1. Palmer- J. Hanson (Perkins, Danielowski) 12:34, 2. Palmer- Reeves (M. Hanson, Richards) pp 2:46, 3. Colony- Huppert (Paatsama) :46.
Second period — no scoring.
Third period — 4. Palmer- M. Hanson (Watson) pp 7:36, 5. Colony- Thygeson (Breck) 6:17, 6. Palmer- Danielowski (M. Hanson, Ferguson) 2:54.
Shots on goal: Colony 12-10-14—36, Palmer 8-6-13—27; Saves: Colony- Holman 6-6-11—23, Palmer- Naegele 11-10-13—34; Penalties: Colony 9-for-18, Palmer 6-for-20.
Moose end regular season with win
PALMER — The Palmer Moose capped the regular season with a 5-3 nonconference win over the Houston Hawks on Saturday at the Palmer Ice Arena.
Junior Michael Hanson posted the hat trick to lead Palmer.
Juniors Andrew Ferguson and Zack Richards also scored for PHS.
Freshman Jared Hanson led the Moose with two assists.
Senior Dillon Styers scored all three of Houston’s goals.
Senior Sam McQuillin recorded 19 saves in the win for Palmer, while Houston sophomore Will Rauchenstein had 31 saves.
Comments
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