Flashy Kenai play not enough to topple Moose

PALMER — The Kenai Kardinals were flying up the ice and junior Zack Zulkanycz dove through the air. But ultimately, it was the Palmer Moose who moved into the final round.

Zulkanycz cut Palmer’s lead in half with a highlight-reel worthy goal midway through the third, but the Moose held on to score a 2-1 victory over the Kards during the North Star Conference semifinals on Friday.

“Kenai just kept coming after us. This is the best I saw them play all season,” Palmer head coach Brad Hanson said. “This was a real nice win (for us).”

Junior Miles George and senior Stephen Acher scored to help the Moose build a 2-0 lead during the first two periods, but Zulkanycz sparked his squad in the third.

With the Kards pressuring the Palmer net, Zulkanycz dove in front of the crease. With his body completely off the ground and the puck in the air, Zulkanycz managed to get the blade of his stick on the puck to tip it into the upper right corner of the Moose net.

“That was a good one,” Kenai head coach Pete Iverson said. “That was a big one too.”

Kenai outshot Palmer 27-20 in the game and 6-3 in the third period.

“It was an exciting game, back and forth,” Iverson said. “We had plenty of opportunities. They were just able to capitalize on one more than we were.”

George gave the Moose the lead midway through the first when he tipped a Thomas Morino pass from the blue line past Kenai goalie Keegan Remsen.

“They were coming after us,” Hanson said. “It was nice to get that goal to gain momentum.”

During the second period, defenseman Nick Reeves passed the puck through the neutral zone to set up a 2-on-1. Stephen Acher led the odd-man rush, and fired a shot from the right wing circle that found its way into the upper shelf of the near side of the net.

Remsen faced only six official shots in the first and three in the third, but made big saves for the Kards.

“Keegan makes the rest of the team look good,” Iverson said. “He saves our bacon all the time.”

Palmer qualified for the state tournament with the win and moved into the NSC title game. For more on the championship game, see Page B1.

Palmer 2, Kenai 1

North Star Conference semifinals

Friday, MTA Palmer Ice Arena

First period — 1. Palmer- George (Morino, Buness) 8:49.

Second period — 2. Palmer- Acher (N. Reeves, Harrison) 5:37.

Third period — 3. Kenai- Zulcanycz (Cunningham) 7:31.

Shots on goal: Kenai 10-11-6—27, Palmer 6-11-3—20; Saves: Kenai- Remsen 5-10-3—18, Palmer- A. Good 10-11-5—26.