Hawks, Warriors win, Moose fall during 1st day of Big Lake hockey tourney

BIG LAKE — Host Houston blasted a Greatland rival, Wasilla downed the defending Division II state champion for the second time this season and Kenai Central got a little redemption against a region foe during the first day of the Big Lake Lions Christmas Classic Thursday in Big Lake.

Senior Reed Humphreys and freshman Ayden Attungana each scored a pair of goals to lead Houston to a 7-1 win over Hutchison in the nightcap Thursday evening. Houston scored five times in the second period and built a 7-0 lead early in the third. Cole Radel scored Hutchison’s lone goal midway through the third.

Noah Gillespie, Rhea Styers and Trace Merrigan added goals for the Hawks. Houston outshot Hutchison 46-23 in the victory. Rylee Bollinder made 22 saves for Houston.

Houston moves forward to play Juneau-Douglas in the semifinals Friday night at 7 p.m.

Division I Wasilla needed a trio of third-period goals to hold on and grab a 7-5 victory over Monroe Catholic, the defending Division II state champions. Wasilla led 4-2 after two periods and 5-2 midway through the third, but Monroe scored three times within a three-minute stretch late in the final period.

Porter Schachle scored both of his goals in the third period. Alex Engan scored in the final second of regulation for Wasilla.

Freshman Chase Schachle scored first to give Wasilla an early lead and added his second goal of the first period to tie the score at 2. Hayden Masterson and Lucas Gudz also scored for Wasilla.

Landon Bartels scored twice to lead the Rams. It marked the second meeting of the season between the two teams. The Warriors also beat the Rams during the Palmer Hockey Showdown early in the year.

It won’t count in the North Star Conference standings, but the Kenai Central Kardinals got a little redemption against a region foe Thursday.

Jakeb O’Brien scored with 1 minute, 33 seconds in regulation to lift the Kards to a 6-5 win over Palmer during the first game of the first round. The win comes a week after Kenai finished 0-3 against the three Valley teams in the North Star at home, a stretch that included a 6-2 loss to the Moose.

“We had a hard weekend against the Valley,” Kenai first-year head coach Jacob Newton said after the win. “To come back and take it to them was nice.”

Levi Mese used four goals and an assist to help the Kards move forward on the bracket. Kenai will meet another region rival, Wasilla, Friday at 1:30 p.m. in the semifinals. Mese buried breakaways to give the Kards their early lead, and Newton said a team effort allowed Kenai to grind out the victory.

“They knew collectively on the bench they needed to step up,” Newton said. “They got each other fired up on the bench, and got it figured out.”

Palmer used a pair of goals within a span of 1:17 early in the second period to take a 4-2 lead.

“We saw Palmer put a couple in, and (our players) realized, man, we are standing flat-footed,” Newton said.

Mese notched a hat trick at the 6:40 mark of the second period to cut Palmer’s lead to 4-3. Jordan Knutson buried a one-timer from the right wing circle less than two minutes later to tie the score at 4.

Mese knocked in a rebound early in the third to collect his fourth goal of the game, and give the Kards the 5-4 lead. After Palmer tied the game at 5, O’Brien picked up a loose puck in the Palmer defensive zone and found the back of the net to supply the game-winner.

Early in the first period, Mese beat a pair of defensemen to score on a breakaway and give the Kards the 1-0 lead. Mese added another breakaway goal midway through the first period.

Noah Keil led Palmer with two goals and two assists. Just more than two minutes after Mese gave Kenai the 1-0 lead, Keil fired a shot from between the circles into the upper corner of the net. Seconds into the second period, Keil bounced a puck past Kenai goalie Joshua Tree to tie the score at 2.

With 9:37 left in the second, Palmer took its first lead of the game when Darian Wilson knocked in a rebound off a Keil shot. Less than two minutes later, RJ Avezac scored off another rebound to push Palmer’s lead to 4-2.

Palmer outshot Kenai 45-29 in the loss. Tree made 39 saves for the Kards.

Action continues Friday with Palmer facing Monroe in the consolation semifinals at 11 a.m. Hutchsion meets Chugiak in the other consolation semifinal at 4:30 p.m.

The semifinals feature Wasilla against Kenai at 1:30 p.m. and host Houston against Juneau at 7 p.m.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.