Colony forward scores hat trick plus 1 in overtime win

PALMER — On a night when Palmer High goalkeeper Ashton Good was great, Colony’s Jonathon Boyer was just a little better in an exciting 5-4 come-from-behind overtime win for the Knights.

Boyer scored four goals and recorded an assist for Colony Tuesday at the MTA Events Center, including the game-winner with 16 seconds left in overtime to notch the win over the cross-town rival Moose.

“That game was crazy, absolutely nuts,” said Colony head coach Jamie Smith. “I’m sure people were thinking we were dead with three minutes left to play.”

That’s because Palmer held what appeared to be a comfortable 4-2 lead with time winding down in the third period when Boyer scored his third goal of the game with 2:16 left to cut the Moose lead to 4-3, then less than a minute later, teammate Gabriel Gamez poked in the tying goal.

That Boyer and Gamez were able to push some pucks past Good was a numbers game, Smith said. The junior keeper saw 50 shots on goal and made 45 saves, compared to the 22 shots the Moose put on Colony goalkeeper Colton Beebe.

“With a good goaltender, you have to create traffic or they’re going to make the save,” Smith said, adding that Boyer had to make some pretty incredible shots to beat Good.

“I’m not kidding, two of his shots went off posts and two of them you couldn’t have fit a quarter in there they were so close,” he said. “He sniped them in. … He had two over the shoulder on the strong side, and that’s a 1-in-50 shot, and he nails two of them.”

Good also made highlight-reel saves on a couple of Boyer breakaway scoring opportunities as well, Smith said.

While Colony provided the fireworks at the end of the game, Palmer set the tone early when Luke Wright scored with 10:34 left in the first period to give the Moose an early 1-0 lead. But the Knights would answer when Boyer scored his first goal to tie the game at 1. The teams see-sawed again at the 5:47 mark when Jacob Inukai gave the Moose a 2-1 lead they’d hold for nearly the entire second period.

Inukai finished the game with the goal and a pair of assists.

The teams played even throughout the second until Boyer tied the game for Colony with just 2 seconds left on the clock.

It wasn’t until the final seven minutes that Palmer seemed to take back momentum, Moose head coach Brad Hanson said. That’s when freshman Josh Myers got his first goal of the season, giving Palmer a 3-2 lead with 6:55 to play. Then 75 seconds later, Hayden Moistner extended the lead to 4-2.

The play of Meyer impressed Hanson, who said the freshman can gain a lot of confidence now that he’s finding the net.

“He had a real good game,” Hanson said. “He played hard and made a lot of good decisions around the net. I don’t think he had any points until then. He’s one of our top freshmen and we’re leaning on our freshmen.”

With time ticking down, Boyer gave Colony momentum with his unassisted goal at the 2:16 mark to cut the lead, then Gamez made a heads-up play to send the game into overtime, Smith said.

On a night when Palmer’s goalkeeper was playing well, Smith said Boyer “kind of took matters into his own hands and put the puck in the net.”

That game-winner in the final seconds of overtime saw Logan Sanders gain control of the puck, pass to Anthony Kolendo, who hit Boyer with a pass on a break down the right hand side, Smith said. Boyer then smoked a shot off the far post and into the net.

Although Palmer saw its lead and a potential victory vanish, Hanson said there were a lot of positives his young team could take from the game.

“All in all, I’m very pleased with our attitudes and where we’re headed,” he said. “Obviously, we’re leaning on Ashton (in goal). He saw 50 shots on goal and he’s doing his part. You can only face so many odd-man rushes before they score some goals. … I think we’re making good improvements. The kids are working hard and getting better, so I think we’re headed in the right direction. We’ve played some good teams, too. The wins and losses thing isn’t so good, but as far as improvement and where we’re headed, that’s all good.”

Rival teams going to overtime and nearly to a shootout made Tuesday’s game one fans will remember, Hanson said. “It was certainly exciting. People got their money’s worth.”

Contact reporter Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.

Colony 5, Palmer 4 OT

Tuesday, MTA Events Center

First period — 1. Palmer- Wright (Myers) 10:34; 2. Colony- Boyer (Sanders) 8:09; 3. Palmer- Inukai (Myers, Moistner) 5:47.

Second period — 4. Colony- Boyer (McJimsey) 0:02.

Third period — 5. Palmer- Myers (Inukai, Moistner) 6:55, 6. Palmer- Moistner (Inukai, Shults) 5:10; 7. Colony- Boyer (unassisted) 2:16; 8. Colony- Gamez (Kolendo, Boyer) 1:34.

Overtime — 9. Colony- Boyer (Kolendo, Sanders) 0:16.

Shots on goal — Colony 6-5-9-2—22, Palmer 10-24-10-6—50; Saves: Colony- Beebe 18; Palmer- Good 45.