WASILLA — Wasilla Warriors head coach Bill Studervant said his team has struggled to score goals this season. Sophomore forward Trent Wohlers is trying his best to change that with a hard shot and a little luck.

Wohlers’ slap shot goal with 13:27 left to play in the second period proved to be the game-winner in Wasilla’s 3-1 win over Mat-Su Valley rival Houston Wednesday night at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena.

Wohlers received a cross-ice pass from teammate Daniel Locke, took two strides over the blue line, then let loose a rocket that flew just over Houston goalie Ben Barenburg’s right blocker to put Wasilla ahead 2-0

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“I picked it up, crossed the blue line and shot, and it went in,” he said.  “It was pretty lucky.”

Studervant said that he has been toying with the lines to find some scoring punch, but has struggled to fill the void junior Matthew Friese left when he joined the Alaska Avalanche.

“I’ve been moving players around a lot,” Studervant said.  “The (top line of Wohlers, Jade Johnson, and Dylan McRee) skated well today, but I’ll probably continue to tweak it a bit.”

In the second period Houston closed the gap to one goal. After fighting off a Wasilla rush, senior forward Brendan Weimer skated the puck up ice and across the top of the circle, feeding sophomore Micah Ranum in the slot for the one-timer, beating Wasilla netminder Chris Yaskus for Houston’s only goal. 

Ranum’s goal seemed to ignite the Hawks’ offense, which after a shaky first period, had several flurries in front of the net later in the game.

“I keep telling them to put on a lot of pressure off the shot, get the rebounds,”Houston head coach Mike Styers sadi. “Its just all hard work and they have to keep pushing.”

But aside from Ranum’s goal, all attempts to put the puck in the net were denied by the Wasilla tender, who made 31 saves during the game. 

“Chris played great today,” Studervant said.  “He is always consistent. If he sees it, he saves it. It gives us a lot of confidence with him in net.”

Wasilla opened the scoring in the first period. After a cluster in front of the net, Johnson lifted the puck past Barenburg for the 1-0 lead.  After Ranum scored in the second to bring the Hawks back to a one-goal deficit, the Warriors regained their two-goal lead with 13:41 to play in the third.  Sophomore Zack Korsmo scored from the slot after a perfect pass by fellow classmate Mike Edwards.

Styers said that Barenburg, who made 33 saves, played a good game and that he was happy with the way his team played, noting that the outcome could have easily been different.

“We just didn’t get the bounces that they did today,” the Houston head coach said.

Wasilla improved to a 4-3 record, while Houston dropped to 3-4.  Next up for the Warriors are the Homer Mariners Thursday at the Brett Memorial, while the Hawks take on the Diamond Lynx Friday night at the Palmer Ice Arena.

Wasilla 3, Houston 1

Wednesday, Menard Memorial Arena

First Period — 1.Wasilla- J.Johnson (M.Edwards, Z.Korsmo).

Second Period — 2. Wasilla- T.Wohlers (D.Locke), 3. Houston- M.Ranum (B.Weimer).

Third Period — 4. Wasilla- Z.Korsmo (M. Edwards, M. Johnston).

Goalies- Houston- B. Barenburg: 33 saves on 36 shots; Wasilla- C. Yaskus: 31 saves on 32 shots.