Colony tops Wasilla in shootout

WASILLA — It may have taken three periods of hard-hitting hockey, four minutes of sudden-death overtime and a shootout, but Colony topped Valley rival Wasilla 3-2 Saturday afternoon to snag fourth place in the annual Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Hockey Tournament.

The win at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center helped the Knights avenge a 6-0 loss to the Warriors in their home opener eight days earlier.

And like that first game, Saturday’s contest was a chippy one. From the moment the teams hit the ice, the penalty box was rarely vacant. The teams combined to commit 18 penalties — nine each — for a total of 32 minutes served in the box.

With all of the physicality of the game, it took until the final five minutes of the first period for Wasilla to score the ice-breaking goal. Wasilla’s junior forward Jack Reeves was assisted by sophomore forward Colten Fletcher for the scrambled goal in Colony’s net.

The second period showed no letup to the first. Halfway through, it was Colony junior forward Stephen Kempinski who finally got the puck by Wasilla goaltender Lauren Massie. Kempinski was assisted by sophomore defenseman Curtis Foster to tie the game at 1.

It was Kempinski’s goal that turned the intensity of the game up a hard notch for both teams. With a lot of back-and-forth play down the ice, breakaways and blocks, Wasilla took the lead again before the end of the second. Wasilla junior forward Cooper Hanson was fed another Fletcher assist right in front of the net for a quick five-hole goal.

Starting the third off with a lead, the Warriors tried to kill time in their zone behind their net, which resulted in a pair of delay of game penalties that gave Colony offensive faceoffs. And in the final five minutes of the game, Colony’s captain Jonathon Boyer netted a top shelf tip off a Donavan Parker slap shot.

Tied at 2, the Knights survived a final five minutes of Wasilla pressure to force overtime. With neither team breaking the tie in overtime, the first shootout of the tournament was set.

Shooting for Wasilla were sophomore Colten Fletcher, sophomore Tanner Schachle, junior Jack Reeves and junior Cooper Hanson. Shooting for Colony were sophomore Jacob Link, sophomore Anthony Kolendo, junior Jonathon Boyer and junior Morgan McJimsey.

Link and McJimsey put their pucks in the net for Colony, and Schachle for Wasilla.

While the tournament held no relevance for conference and region standings, Colony head coach Jamie Smith said he was very proud of his team after this game.

“We finally came together, and that’s really the hardest thing to do as a coach, bringing a group of teenage boys together on the same page,” Smith said.

Colony cleaned up and regrouped after their previous two tournament games and caught Wasilla for an unexpected outcome, he said. After a 3-1 loss to Lathrop to open the tournament on Thursday, Colony rebounded to beat cross-town rival Palmer 3-2 Friday to set up Saturday’s fourth-place game. Wasilla lost to East Anchorage 3-1 Thursday, then beat Houston 4-2 Friday to advance.

With 29 shots on Colony goaltender Colton Beebe and 26 shots on Massie, the scoresheet shows an intense, even-keel game.

While Colony came ready for their rematch with the Warriors, Wasilla head coach Bill Sturdevant was not as pleased with his team’s performance,

“I thought we played about the same this game as our last two tournament games — flat,” he said. “We didn’t carry the normal intensity we have had in all of our conference games.”

For the final most valuable player awards, Fletcher received Wasilla’s and Beebe accepted the award for Colony.