Host Moose eye revenge in first round of hockey tourney

PALMER — The Wasilla Warriors and Colony Knights, the top 2 squads in the North Star Conference, have the first-round byes and their eyes on a trip to the final. But the host Palmer Moose also want to make some noise during the 2017 North Star Conference Championships, which start Thursday at the MTA Events Center in Palmer.

The Moose would also like to late-season loss to a North Star rival. Palmer, the No. 4 seed in the tournament, hosts fifth-seeded Kenai Thursday at 4:45 p.m.

“The last time we played Kenai it was a very close game,” Palmer head coach Dean Wilson said of his squad’s 9-8 overtime loss to the Kardinals in Kenai. “We thought we had them beat with eight goals, but Kenai kept coming.”

Wilson said that game marked a rough end to a three-day road trip across the Kenai Peninsula, but believes his team has improved since then.

“I think we’ve tightened up some things, turned around a couple of things,” Wilson said of the Moose, who finished the regular season 3-6-1 in North Star Conference play. “I think it will be a better game. The kids are playing much better.”

Kenai finished the regular season 2-8-0 in conference.

Wilson said the single-elimination tournament, which continues through Saturday, will provide a test for a young Palmer squad that will graduate only three seniors.

“Mostly what we are looking for out of this team is consistency,” Wilson said.

Third-seeded Soldotna (5-4-1) and sixth-seeded Homer (1-9-0) will play in the tournament’s other semifinal, facing off Thursday at 2 p.m. at the MTA Events Center.

The Palmer-Kenai moves forward to play top-seeded Wasilla (10-0-0) Friday at 5 p.m. The Soldotna-Homer winner advances to the semifinals to play second-seeded Colony (8-2-0).

Wasilla capped its season with wins over its rivals on consecutive nights, beating Palmer 8-3 Jan. 26 and Colony 4-3 Jan. 27. Wasilla head coach Trent Schachle said he is feeling good about wear his team is as they skate into the conference tournament.

“Definitely offensively (we’re feeling good). We need to buckle down a little tighter on defense,” Schachle said. “We have to play defense first, limit the shots.”

Schachle said the Warriors will also get a boost on defense with the return of blueliner Tyler Lutz.

A pair of close games separated Wasilla and second-seeded Colony in the standings. The Warriors edged Colony 4-3 in November and again last week.

Despite the loss, Colony made major improvements during the second half of the season. After starting the year 1-6-1, the Knights were 13-2-1 during their final 16 games of the season.

“I felt like that would probably happen, especially with a young team,” Colony head coach Jamie Smith said recently of his team’s late-season run.

Colony skates into the tournament as the two-time defending champion.

Winners of Friday’s semifinal games earn automatic bids to the 4A state tournament in addition to spots in the NSC championship game, which is slated for Saturday at 4:15 p.m. at the MTA Events Center.

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