Knights grind out victory over Moose

PALMER — Over the course of a long season, sometimes it’s all about finding a way to grind out a victory. For Colony and Palmer, a pair of teams playing in their fourth game in six days, Tuesday was one of those days.

Colony scored a pair of goals during the last three minutes of play to ice a 6-3 North Star Conference win over the Moose at the MTA Events Center in Palmer.

Colony head coach Jamie Smith said his team might have been a bit tired after a long weekend of hockey. Both Colony and Palmer hosted Kenai, Soldotna and Homer Jan. 10-13. This came after the Knights and Moose were off for about three weeks for the holiday winter break. After his team’s 5-4 overtime win over Kenai last Friday, Palmer head coach Dean Wilson said the Moose were still working to get back to game form after the long break. Tuesday, Smith said he gave his players about two weeks off to help recover from a busy first-half of the season that featured long road trips to Fairbanks, Juneau and the Kenai Peninsula. Now moving forward after four games in six days, Smith said it’s a delicate balance to ensure his players are ready for postseason hockey.

“You’ve got to pace yourself here the last couple of weeks,” Smith said.

Colony entered the game as the top team in the North Star Conference, and improved to 8-1 with the victory. But before the win, the Knights held just a one-game advantage over Homer and Wasilla, both tied at 6-2. Smith said he told his players they don’t want to give the Mariners are Warriors any opportunity to close the gap in the standings.

“I told them, we have to win the game. Here’s the deal, you’re in a bad spot if you lose the game,” Smith said.

Colony needed a big third period to shake the upset-minded Moose.

“We cranked it up a little bit,” Smith said.

Clinging to just a one-goal lead advantage, Tae’jean Evans streaked up the left side of the ice and scored with 3:09 remaining to push Colony’s lead to 5-3. Colony junior Mitchell Ditlz set up the play, with a sharp pass across the zone. Early in the play, senior Cooper Smith was hammered by a pair of Moose alongside the right wing boards, but managed to move the puck to Diltz. Sitting above the circle near the boards, Diltz fired a pass to Evans, who skated alone through the left wing circle.

“That was fantastic,” Smith said of the pass.

Less than a minute later, senior Jake Hessinger snapped a wrister from the left wing circle to add an insurance goal for the Knights.

Colony needed only seconds to take its first lead of the game. Senior Kolten Ketchum scored 25 seconds into regulation. Cooper Smith won a face off in the Palmer defensive zone, and dumped it back to Ketchum at the right point. Ketchum lifted a shot into the upper left corner of the Moose net.

Palmer answered quickly with a Owen Hayes goal that tied the score at 1.

Early in the second, Palmer scored the quick goal. Nineteen seconds into the middle frame, Darian Wilson fed a pass from the right wing across the face of the crease to David Scully, who hammered it home from the left doorstep. Less than a minute later, Cooper Smith scored to tie the game at 2.

That was the first of three straight Colony goals in the period. Jake Holman scored and Hessinger recorded a power play goal. With 31 seconds left in the period, Palmer’s Zach Nelius scored right off a face off to cut Colony’s lead to 4-3.

Colony outshot Palmer 37-12 in the game, and 16-2 in the third period.

Cooper Smith scored a goal and four assists in the win.

Warriors race past Mustangs

Wasilla scored eight unanswered goals en route to an 8-1 nonconference win over Chugiak Tuesday at the Brett Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla.

Chugiak led 1-0 after the first, but Wasilla struck four times in each of the final two periods.

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

Colony 6, Palmer 3

Tuesday, MTA Events Center

First period — 1. Colony- Ko. Ketchum (Smith) 14:35; 2. Palmer- Hayes (unassisted) 10:59.

Second period — 3. Palmer- Scully (Wilson) 14:46; 4. Colony- Smith (Diltz) 13:48; 5. Colony- Holman (Monaco, Smith) 9:59; 6. Colony- Hessinger (Ketchum, Evans) 8:37; 7. Palmer- Z. Nelius (Moore) 0:31.

Third period — 8. Colony- Evans (Diltz, Smith) 3:09; 9. Colony- Hessinger (Ko. Ketchum, Ka. Ketchum) 2:32.

Shots on goal: Colony 14-7-16—37, Palmer 5-5-2—12; Saves: Colony- Doss 4-3-2—9, Palmer- O’Rourke 13-4-14—31.