Moose rumble to conference title

WASILLA — The scenerio was simple.

With a win over rival Wasilla Friday, the Palmer Moose skate off the ice as the regular season champions of the North Star Conference and the top seed in the upcoming region tourney, and regardless of the outcome, the Warriors were cemented in as the third seed of the NSC tournament.

But even though Palmer had everything to gain, the Moose played like they had nothing to lose.

Palmer struck twice during a three-minute span in the first period and worked its way to a 4-0 shutout of the Warriors at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla.

“I’m proud of the way the kids played,” Palmer head coach Brad Hanson said. “You could see it in their eyes tonight when they showed up, that they were going to seal the deal.”

With the win, Palmer finished the regular season with a 9-1-0 conference mark and will skate into the NSC tourney as the top seed. Palmer and second-seeded Soldotna (8-1-1) both have first-round byes, and Wasilla (6-3-1) is seeded third in the tourney that starts Thursday evening at the Menard Arena

The win also secures the Moose — a team that had spent much of the last decade or so at or near the bottom of the conference —  their first regular-season region title since 1991.

“Just for the program to turn around, and see everyone chipping in, and to get it done tonight against our rivals, it’s just great,” Palmer senior captain Zach Richards said.

Sophomore Jared Hanson and senior Michael Hanson scored in the first period, while Michael Hanson Richards added second-period scores the win.

Palmer outshot Wasilla 33-18, finished 1-for-3 on the power play and killed both of Wasilla’s opportunities with the advantage.

“We knew we had to stay out of the box, and if we put the puck in early and attacked them, we knew the result would be like this,” Richards said.

Jared Hanson cashed in a gift early in the first period to give the Moose the 1-0 lead. The sophomore crashed the net and knocked in a rebound of a Michael Hanson shot that was left just north of the crease when the puck took a hard bounce of the stick of Wasilla goalie Chris Yaskus.

Just more than two minutes later, the Hanson brothers connected again. This time Michael Hanson slipped a puck past the stick side of Yaskus on a breakaway while the Moose skated shorthanded. Jared Hanson set up the play when he stole the puck near center ice and pushed a quick pass to his older brother. With the puck, Michael Hanson skated out of traffic, used a quick jerk of his stick to fool Yaskus, and beat the goalie on his left side.

“We moved the puck quickly, efficiantly,” Brad Hanson said.

Palmer also showed its patience with the puck. With the Moose set up in the Warriors’ end of the ice, freshman Ivan Good slowly moved the puck until he found Michael Hanson sitting alone on top of the left circle. Good sent a sharp pass to the senior, who put a quick wrist shot into the upper shelf of the net early in the second period.

 Later in the period, with the Moose on their second power play of the game, sophomore Nick Reeves put a shot on net from the blueline, and after a Tyler Isaacs shot, Richards crashed the right side of the net to knock in a rebound and give the Moose the four-goal lead.

Not only did Palmer build the lead, but the Moose held Wasilla to only 10 shots during the final two periods of the game.

“We didn’t need another goal, we just needed to hold them back,” Palmer senior defenseman Andrew Ferguson said.

Palmer goalie Will Rauchenstein stopped 16 Wasilla shots to earn the shutout, and thwarted a handful of quality opportunities for the Warriors.

Ferguson also made one of the bigger saves of the game, when Wasilla nearly tied the game early in the first period. Withthe Warriors skating on their first power play of the contest, sophomore Trent Wohlers put a hard slap shot on net. The Wohlers shot ricocheted off the post and the back of Rauchenstein’s pads,  and bounced free to the right side of the net. With Rauchenstien out of position and the Warriors crashing toward a puck that sat in front of a partially open net, Ferguson came in to sweep the puck away to the boards.

“[I was thinking] get it away from the net as quick as possible,” Ferguson said.

Wohlers also had arguably Wasilla’s best scoring chance of the second period. After a Palmer power play expired, Wohlers hustled out of the box and won a battle behind the net to grab the puck. The sophomore pushed a pass to a crashing Eric Marshall, who sent a shot just wide of the net.

Palmer 4, Wasilla 0

Friday, Menard Memorial Arena

First period — 1. Palmer- J. Hanson (M. Hanson, Good) 9:54, 2. Palmer- M. Hanson (J. Hanson) sh 7:16.

Second period — 3. Palmer- M. Hanson (Good) 9:16, 4. Palmer- Richards (Isaacs, Reeves) pp 3:55.

Third period — no scoring.

Shots on goal: Palmer 8-14-9—31, Wasilla 6-5-5—16; Saves: Palmer- Rauchenstein 8-5-5—18, Wasilla- Yaskus 6-12-9—29.