4A state hockey tourney: Kards top Warriors for fourth place

Feb. 11, 2007

By MATT TUNSETH/ Frontiersman

WASILLA - Coming into Saturday's fourth place game at the ASAA First National Cup 4A Alaska State Hockey championships, the Wasilla Warriors were looking to get some revenge.

Unfortunately for the Warriors, Kenai Central goalie Lauren Baldwin was not in a giving mood.

The Kenai senior stopped 24 of the 25 Wasilla shots she faced to lead her team to a 4-1 victory, and the school's best showing at state in the history of the program.

&#8220Baldwin played incredible this morning,” Wasilla coach Bill Sturdevant said after the 8 a.m. affair. &#8220She's a difference maker.”

Wasilla had lost three previous meetings to the Kardinals, including last week's North Star Championship game in Palmer.

&#8220We wanted to end things on a good note against them,” Wasilla freshman Matthew Friese said. &#8220It is disappointing.”

Kenai was awarded a penalty shot early in the first period when a Wasilla player covered the puck while it was in the crease during a Kenai power play.

Brad Fusaro took the shot for Kenai, going top shelf on Wasilla goalie Jesse Hugli's glove side, to net the first goal of the game and give Kenai a 1-0 lead.

The score remained that way through the end of the first despite five Wasilla penalties that gave Kenai an extra skater for half the period. Both teams had a number of good scoring opportunities in the first, but both Baldwin and Hugli came up big with a number of good saves in the first.

&#8220She made big saves all game,” Kenai coach Nate Kiel said after the game.

The game was delayed during the first intermission while stadium workers and ASAA officials worked to repair the ice surface, which was wearing through in several spots on the sheet.

Less than a minute into the second, Fusaro gave the Kardinals a 2-0 lead when he converted a perfect centering feed from Jed McGlasson that left Hugli with little chance to defend the net.

Kenai's Dean Howell later made it 3-0 when he took a long feed from Reid Ehrhardt during a Kardinal power play, and skated in all alone on Hugli. Then made a nifty move to convert the breakaway.

North Star Conference Player of the Year Owen Dukowitz got into the act in the third period, deflecting a hard Howell slap shot past Hugli to give the Kardinals a 4-0 advantage with ten minutes left in the game.

The Warriors finally got on the board late in the final period, when Matthew Friese converted on the power play to cut the Kenai lead to 4-1.

Jordan Elkins assisted on the score.

After the Kardinals finished celebrating their win, Kiel said he could not be more pleased with his team's big finish. Kenai won its last two games at the state tournament after losing Thursday's opener against Service, 4-2.

&#8220We're very pleased,” Kiel said. &#8220Things didn't go our way in the first one, but to come back and get the best finish in school history is a big positive.”

As for Wasilla, the sixth-place Warriors will have to wait until next season to exact some revenge on the Kardinals. The prospects for such seem bright, as Wasilla loses just two seniors from this year's team and will return a nucleus of exciting young players.

&#8220To look where we were at the beginning of the year and where we are now, the kids made some huge strides,” Sturdevant said.

For his part, Wasilla's Matthew Friese also said he's already looking forward to future games against the Kards. As he left the locker room after the Warriors' final game, the sophomore had two words that should give Kenai fans cause for concern.

&#8220Next year,” he said.

Warriors sneak past Wolfpack

WASILLA - Matthew Friese scored with just 36 seconds left to help the Wasilla Warriors pull out a 7-6 win over West Valley in the consolation semifinals of the ASAA First National Cup 4A State Hockey championships Friday at the Menard Arena.

The win lifted the Warriors into the fourth-place game against Kenai Central.

On Friday, Wasilla took a 1-0 lead on a Harvey Finch goal early in the first period. The Wolfpack quickly tied things up, but Wasilla went to the first intermission with a 2-1 edge courtesy of a Dane Wilson goal.

Brian Turner and Adam Friese scored in the second period for Wasilla, which took a 4-3 lead into the final period.

Wasilla looked to be in command after goals by Wilson and Finch staked the Warriors to a comfortable 6-3 lead five minutes into the final period.

A furious West Valley surge enabled them to claw their way back into the game, with the Wolfpack using three consecutive goals to tie things up at 6-6 with just two minutes left - setting the stage for the final Friese heroics.

&#8220I think we just decided we needed to get a goal,” Friese said.

Wasilla goalie Jake Dargis finished with 23 saves on 29 West Valley shots.

Following South Anchorage's 2-1 win over Dimond in the large-schools state championship game, Friese was named to the 4A all-tournament team.

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com