Knights fall in first round of state hockey tourney

WASILLA — In high school sports, there will be peaks and there will be valleys.

Last week, after earning its second consecutive North Star Conference title, the Colony Knights stood on the mountain top. But Thursday, the Knights struggled to climb from the depths of an early deficit, falling 4-0 to defending state champion West Anchorage during the first round of the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Championships at the Menard Arena in Wasilla.

“It’s like we were tired,” Colony head coach Jamie Smith said, adding that he wasn’t sure if the emotions of region a region title played a factor. “We just couldn’t get things going.”

Max Helgeson scored a pair of goal to help West move forward into the semifinal round, where the Eagles will face Cook Inlet Conference rival Dimond Friday at 7:30 p.m at the Menard. With the loss, Colony is pushed backward into a match with Juneau-Douglas Friday at 2:30 p.m. in the consolation semifinals.

Dimitri Hamm and Tanner Edwards also scored for West Anchorage, the No. 3 seed from the Cook Inlet Conference.

West Anchorage outshot Colony 35-10 in the game.

“We were running up against a good team,” Smith said.

The Eagles controlled early, outshooting Colony 7-1 during the first five minutes of play. Hamm gave West its first lead, scoring shorthanded with 4:41 left in the first.

“The first period, we wanted to hang around a little bit, and get into the flow of the game a little bit, but it just never happened,” Smith said.

Colony goalie Joey Ditlz made 31 saves in the loss.

“They’ve got some fantastic players. They played well,” Smith said of the Eagles. “They’ve got some guys with some real fantastic skill set.”

Two of West’s first three goals came on the odd-man rush. Late in the first, after a Colony turnover on the power play, Edwards raced up the ice on a West 2-on-1, and dropped a pass to Hamm, who found the back of the net.

Edwards used another odd-man midway through the second to create another goal, sending a pass from the left wing circle across the face of the goal to Helgeson, who buried the puck for his second goal of the game.

Edwards capped his three-point night with a goal late in the third period.

“They were good goals,” Smith said of the West scores.

Smith said the postgame message to his players was simple.

“For us, we’ve got to get better. Each individual guy has got to get better,” Smith said.

The Knights still have an opportunity to cap the season with a winning streak. A victory over the Crimson Bears Friday would give Colony a chance to play for fourth place in the bracket.

Dimond cruises to win

The Dimond Lynx scored nine unanswered goals to coast past Juneau-Douglas 9-1 in the first quarterfinal of the day.

Ryan Perius, one of eight Lynx to find the back of the net, scored twice in the win.

Bill Bosse scored the lone goal for Juneau, which made its first state tournament appearance in program history.

Eagle River scores upset

Defending state champion West Anchorage is still alive for a spot in the 2016 title game, but its opponent in 2015 is not. West Valley, the 2015 state runner-up, fell to Eagle River 2-1 in the quarterfinals Thursday afternoon.

Eagle River goalie Trent Burnham made 30 saves to help the Wolves score the victory, the first state tournament win in program history.

Joshua Lind and Ben Rinckey scored for the Wolves. Stoshie Skolruski posted the lone goal for the Wolfpack.

Mustangs blast Stars

Zachary Krajnik and John Hammer each collected two goals and four assists to help Chugiak roll past Soldotna 9-2 in the final quarterfinal game Thursday night.

Corey Hanson scored twice for Soldotna.

Friday schedule:

Consolation semifinals: Soldotna vs. West Valley, noon; Colony vs. Juneau-Douglas, 2:30 p.m.

Championship semifinals: Eagle River vs. Chugiak, 5 p.m.; Dimond vs. West, 7:30 p.m.