Dimand and North Pole to meet in Menard final

WASILLA — A pair of teams from outside the Mat-Su Valley will skate in the championship game of the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Hockey Tournament at the Menard Arena on Saturday.

Dimond and North Pole will meet for the title of the sixth annual event during the tourney's final game Saturday at 7:15 p.m.

Dimond advanced thanks to its 8-3 win over Wasilla on Friday.

Wasilla led 1-0 and 2-1 in the first period, but Dimond scored five times during the second and four times during a four-minute stretch of the middle period to grab the win.

Dylan McCree, Jeremiah Walker and Zach Korsmo scored for the Warriors, who will play Kenai Central in the third-place game Saturday at 5 p.m.

Kenai was pushed into the third-place game with a 10-2 loss to North Pole.

North Pole won despite giving the Kards 11 power-play chances. Not only did the Patriots kills nine of those 11 chances, North Pole also netted a pair of shorthanded goals.

Vance Bridgman and Dylan Longoria each notched the hat trick for NPHS.

In consolation action, Bartlett slipped by Colony 3-2 and Palmer beat Houston 5-1.

The win over the Hawks was Palmer's first of the season. Steven Acher and Mitchell Rissew both scored twice for Palmer. Piers LaFrance added a shorthanded goal. Jonas Naegele earned the win in the Palmer net.

James Shuey scored for Houston.

Bartlett skated to a 3-0 lead, but allowed a pair of Colony goals during the final three minutes of the third. Chris Sawyer and Lance Nezaticky scored for Colony.

Bartlett will now meet Palmer in the fourth-place match at 2:45 p.m. Houston faces Colony in the seventh-place game at 12:30 Saturday.

Bartlett 3, Colony 2

Menard Tournament consolation semifinals

Friday, Menard Arena

First period — no scoring.

Second period — 1. Bartlett- King (Esquibel-Mills) 4:46.

Third period — 2. Bartlett- King (Waalkes) 3:52, 3. Bartlett- Esquibel-Mills (Waalkes) 2:40, 4. Colony- Sawyer (Carter, Tobin) 1:52, 5. Colony- Nezaticky (Moma, Carter) 0:33.

Shots on goal: Bartlett 7-10-11—28, Colony 13-10-17—40; Saves: Bartlett- DeBoer 13-10-15—38, Colony- Savel 7-9-9—25.

Palmer 5, Houston 1

Menard Tournament consolation semifinals

Friday, Menard Arena

First period — 1. Palmer- Acher (Good) 4:36, 2. Palmer- Rissew (Good) 1:45.

Second period — 3. Palmer- Rissew (unassisted) sh 14:26, 4. Palmer- Acher (Good, Ervin) 1:00.

Third period — 5. Palmer- LaFrance (unassisted) sh 7:18, 6. Houston- Ja. Shuey (Doss, Styers) pp 2:55.

Shots on goal: Palmer 10-11-8—29, Houston 8-7-12—27; Saves: Palmer- Naegele 8-7-11—26, Houston- Barenburg 8-9-7—24.

Dimond 8, Wasilla 3

Menard Tournament semifinals

Friday, Menard Arena

First period — 1. Wasilla- McCree (Wohlers) 5:10, 2. Dimond- Hill (Smith-Mass) 1:29, 3. Wasilla- Walker (Hanson) 1:02.

Second period — 4. Dimond- Roberts (Crew, Dunlap) 12:53, 5. Dimond- Clapper (Schnell, Crew) 10:18, 6. Dimond- Dunlap (Roberts) 9:42, 7. Dimond- Fairchild (Clapper) 9:19, 8.. Wasilla- Korsmo (Edwards) 4:58, 9. Dimond- Feller (Smith-Mass, Thompson) 2:29.

Third period — 10. Dimond- Stoner (Fairchild, Thompson) pp 11:23, 11. Dimond- Roberts (Dunlap, Ramos) 10:03.

Shots on goal: Dimond 16-18-10—44, Wasilla 4-11-6—21, Saves: Dimond- Holzschuh 2-10-6—18; Wasilla- Yaskus 15-13-8—36.

North Pole 10, Kenai Central 2

Menard Tournament semifinals

Friday, Menard Arena

First period — 1. North Pole- Bridgman (Longoria, Parra) 13:46, 2. North Pole- Parra (Longoria, Bridgman) 13:13, 3. North Pole- Brigdman (Wade) 7:51.

Second period — 4. North Pole Bunch (Keturi) pp 8:40, 5. North Pole- Longoria (Bridgman) 7:39, 6. North Pole- Longoria (Bunch) sh 2:51.

Third period — 7. North Pole- Bridgman (Longoria) pp 11:59, 8. North Pole- Tilman (Geyer, Bridgman), 10. Kenai- Palchikoff (Lemay, Cue) pp 10:33, 11. North Pole- Keturi (Longoria) sh 7:35, 12. Kenai- Cheek (unassisted) pp 1:23, 13. North Pole- Longoria (Bridgman, Tilman) 0:14.

Shots on goal: North Pole 13-16-21—50, Kenai 6-8-5—19; Saves: North Pole- Fine 6-8-3—17, Kenai- Daugherty 10-13-17—40; Penalties: North Pole 13-for-26, Kenai 8-for-16.