Frustrated Moose fall to Stars

WASILLA -- The Palmer Moose went from the top of their game to a lowly pit of frustration in less than 24 hours.

On Thursday, the Moose, ranked fifth in Region III, nearly upended the top-ranked Kenai Kardinals. After leading for a solid portion of the contest, Palmer dropped the tight-played contest by a slim 7-5 margin.

On Friday, things turned from bad to worse for the Moose as they dropped a 6-1 decision to the Soldotna Stars.

"It is Jekyll and Hyde," Palmer head coach Brian Fish said. "Physically we had the effort, but mentally we were not here."

Palmer was trapped within their frustration as the game was controlled by Soldotna and the inconsistent group of referees.

"The refereeing was a little suspect," Fish said. "Both teams were playing a little cheap, but the referring was suspect. But the bottom line is, referees don't win games, teams win games."

Referees dished out 30 penalties, for an astronomical 80 penalty minutes. Their inconsistency lied in calling minor hooking infractions, but missing brutal crosschecks and spears.

Palmer was whistled 16 times and the Moose were handed 50 minutes worth of penalties. Cody Gable and Spencer Gavlin were each given misconducts, and in one of the oddest parts of the game, goaltender Kyle Berti was given a four-minute rouging penalty after throwing a few retaliation punches. After consistently taking shots by both puck and stick, Berti tangled up with Soldotna forward J.J. Sullivan.

Sullivan, who had been dishing out questionable blows throughout the game, spent a good portion an early shift in the third period muscling the Palmer goaltender. Berti, whose calm demeanor on the ice rarely features a peak or valley in his emotion, shed his stick and glove and fought back against the Soldotna super-goon.

"It got the best of him," Fish said. "This is the first time in two years I have even seen him get a penalty."

Soldotna jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first period. Jake Bishop kicked back a rebound to fellow Star Kory Wilbanks, who shot it in from the point to give Soldotna a 1-0 lead.

SoHi captain Johnny Mills followed with a breakaway talley 69 seconds later.

Matt Vasille scored his first of three goals midway through the first to give Soldotna the 3-0 advantage. Vasille completed his hat trick with two goals in the third period.

Galvin put Palmer on the board with a breakaway shorthanded goal late in the first period.

The talented Moose freshman picked up the puck near the Palmer net, skated through the Soldotna zone, split a pair of Star blueliners and buried the puck.

Kenai 7, Palmer 5

Palmer led 3-2 after one and tied the game 5-5 in the third, but the Kenai Kardinals prevailed with a 7-5 win at Brett Ice Arena on Thursday.

Galvin, Jaxon Logan and Kent Blaylock each scored for the Moose in the first.

Sam Roy posted a pair of third-period goals for Palmer.

Berti stopped 40 of 47 shots in the game.

Colony 6, North Pole 5

Austin Manelick scored a pair of goals to lead Colony to a 6-5 win over the visiting North Pole Patriots in non-conference hockey action at the Brett on Wednesday.

Patrick Geary, Alex Smith and Justin Gray also scored for the Knights.

Colony led 4-2 after two periods, but the Patriots scored three times in the third to crawl back into the game.

Matt Dischner registered 33 saves in the win.

Wasilla 5, Monroe 1

The Wasilla Warriors scored five unanswered goals en route to a 5-1 non-conference win over the Monroe Catholic Rams at the Brett on Thursday.

Andrew Tumbleson sparked Wasilla with two goals in the second period. Jeremiah Dargis also scored in the middle frame to give Wasilla a 3-1 lead after two periods.

Derek Banbury and Alex Gittlein added insurance goals in the third.

Ronnie Walker saved 24 shots in the win.