First-period blitz spurs lopsided win for Warriors

PALMER — Wasilla goaltender Lauren Massie continued a strong start to his sophomore campaign, pitching his fourth shutout of the season Friday in a 7-0 Warrior thumping of cross-Valley rival Palmer.

Massie’s goose egg was complimented by a scrappy performance from junior forward Jack Reeves, who scored two goals and had an assist against the Moose, along with another two assists in a 3-2 Saturday win over North Pole. The wins closed out a perfect 6-0 December for the Warriors, who go into the holiday break with a 12-5 record, including 5-0 against North Star Conference teams.

“Our goal was to be 5-0 in the region going into the break, and this was our fifth region game (against Palmer), so we wanted to make sure we finished out,” Wasilla head coach Bill Sturdevant said. “We weren’t expecting this type of score, but we’re real happy with how we’ve been playing lately. Everybody from top to bottom is playing the right way.”

In Friday’s rivalry game, Wasilla wasted little time putting the game out of reach. Reeves scored his first goal less than 90 seconds into the game, poking the puck past Palmer goalie Ashton Good from the right side.

Less than a minute later, Blake Carricaburu ripped a strong wrister from the top left blue line to put Wasilla up 2-0.

The Warriors would continue to pressure the Moose in their zone, which paid off with another three goals in the first period. Troy Verplancke scored a power-play goal at the 8:27 mark, assisted by Andrew Cooley and William Harren.

Already leading 3-0, Wasilla closed out the final four minutes of the first with a pair of goals from Colten Fletcher and Harren, who poked a power-play puck into the net with just under 23 seconds to play.

Although Palmer starts a young team with 10 freshmen, including three starters, that the Warriors were able to put up that many goals so quickly was surprising, Sturdevant said. He also praised Palmer goalie Good as one of the better tenders in the conference.

“It was nice to get out early, and any time you’re able to get five goals on Ashton in the first period, that’s rare, that’s a rarity,” he said.

That Reeves had a strong showing wasn’t surprising either, Sturdevant said. Reeves played for the Moose last year and wanted to play well against his former team.

“He actually was at Palmer last year and this was a big game for him,” the coach said. “We’re really happy to have him. He works hard, and I can’t say enough good things about him. He’s coachable and a great teammate. He’s one of those guys we can count on every game.”

After Wasilla dominated the first period, Palmer came out more aggressive in the final two periods. That was evident on the scoreboard, where the Warriors were held to just two goals in the final periods, and also in the penalty box. The teams traded chippy penalties throughout the latter part of the second and third periods, including a pair of Palmer ejections. At one point near the end of the second period, the Palmer side of the penalty box was stuffed with four players.

“We’ve been really good keeping our penalty level down (coming into the game),” Sturdevant said. “But any time you have a Palmer-Wasilla rivalry game like this, you’re going to see the penalties climb, and that’s what happened tonight. I thought we took some silly penalties, unnecessary penalties.”

While the Warrior offense was humming Friday, Massie’s shutout was also impressive, he said.

“He played excellent today,” Sturdevant said. “He didn’t see a lot of shots, but when there were opportunities, he was ready. He turned some pucks aside. He was solid, and that speaks volumes for him, because it’s easy to fall asleep back there in games like this.”

Massie was able to relax on Saturday against North Pole. The sophomore starter was given the game off while sophomore Kiana Verplancke spelled him in net to earn a win in her first varsity start. She made 18 saves on 20 shots in the 3-2 win.

In that game, sophomore forward Olaf Jensen was the sparkplug, scoring a pair of goals, including the first just 19 seconds into the game, played on the Warriors’ home ice at the Brett Memorial Ice Arena.

Wasilla 7, Palmer 0

Friday, MTA Events Center

First period: 1. Wasilla- Reeves (Butcher, Fletcher) 13:47; 2. Wasilla- Carricaburu (Reeves) 12:55; 3. Wasilla- Verplancke (Cooley, Harren) pp 8:27; 4. Wasilla- Fletcher (Butcher) 3:56; 5. Harren (Hansen, Apangalook) pp 0:22.8.

Second period: 6. Wasilla- Reeves (Cooley, Harren) 7:24; 7. Wasilla- Cook (Verplancke, Apangalook) pp 2:18.

Third period: no scoring.

Palmer 6, North Pole 5

Although Palmer was shut out by Wasilla on Friday, the Moose had their offense in high gear Thursday in a 6-5 win over North Pole.

Junior forward Jacob Inukai led the hot Palmer offense with a hat trick, including the first two goals of a 3-0 first period for the Moose. He netted the first puck on a power-play goal at the 11:49 mark of the first to break the ice, then scored a little more than three minutes later to put Palmer up 2-0. Freshman Christopher Dojka’s goal on a power play at 5:51 capped a solid first period for the Moose.

That first period turned out to just be a primer for a wild second that saw the teams combine for five goals, including three from North Pole.

Entering the final period trailing 5-3, the Patriots pulled to within a goal just 11 seconds in, but Inukai capped off his hat-trick less than two minutes later to give the Moose a 6-4 cushion. The Patriots again cut the lead to a single goal at the 3:20 mark of the third, but that was as close as they would get.

Palmer 6, North Pole 5

Thursday, MTA Events Center

First period: 1. Palmer- Inukai (Myers) pp 11:49; 2. Palmer- Inukai (Richards, Dreyer) 8:13; 3. Palmer- Dojka (Wright, Clements) pp 5:51.

Second period: 4. North Pole- Wade (Linnell) 14:52; 5. Palmer- Wright (Dojka, Clements) 12:34; 6. Palmer- Dojka (Johns, Wright) 9:33; 7. North Pole- Teel (Wade, Donald) pp 7:57; 8. North Pole- Linnell (Sawicki, Conrow) :01.

Third period: 9. North Pole- Wade (Teel, Ranson) 14:49; 10. Palmer- Inukai (Meyers, Moistner) 12:59; 11. North Pole- Latham (Sawicki, Teel) 3:20.

Shots on goal: Palmer 32; North Pole 37. Saves: Palmer- Good 32; North Pole- Hancock 7, Heineken 19.

West 2, Colony 0

In other Valley hockey action Thursday, Colony dropped a 2-0 road decision to West Anchorage. West out-shot the Knights 21-13, as goaltender Colton Beebe made 19 saves.

West 2, Colony 0

Thursday, MAC

First period: 1. West- M. Osgood (Bardsley) pp 1:32.

Second period: no scoring

Third period: 2. West- Teders (Bardsley, M. Osgood) 14:06.

Shots on goal: West 10-8-3—21, Colony 5-3-5—13; Saves: West- Chekan 13, Colony- Beebe 19.