Knights hold off Hawks comeback

WASILLA — When Houston scored late in the third period to cut Colony’s lead to 7-4 Friday night, the Hawks faithful let out a modest cheer.

“Scoreboard!” came the immediate reply from the Knights’ student section, a none-too-subtle reminder that Colony was still cruising toward a convincing victory.

Two minutes and two goals later, and any cockiness from the fans of the green and white was long gone. Nervous looks in the crowd were mirrored on the ice, where Colony’s players were trying to hold off a furious comeback attempt that had seemingly come out of nowhere.

“To be honest with you, I was a little nervous,” Colony head coach Dale Mattson said, moments after his team survived a harrowing final four minutes to hold off the Hawks 7-6 Friday night at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla.

After falling behind by four goals on Blake Huppert’s third goal of the game early in the third period, the Hawks were all but dead. But Houston got new life in the final minutes as Micah Ranum, Rye Humphreys and Dillon Styers all lit the lamp in a two-minute span pull the Hawks within a single goal with 1:28 left to play.

Mattson said his team was caught a bit flat-footed by the sudden Hawks explosion.

“Players start watching them instead of doing what they’re supposed to do,” Mattson said. “All of the sudden they’re shocked that they’re coming at you so fast.”

After cutting the lead to 7-6, Houston head coach Mike Styers called timeout to set up his team’s attack over the final minute and a half. That stoppage, Mattson said, may have actually helped the Knights regain their composure.

“It gave us time to regroup,” Mattson said.

Colony also changed goalies during the timeout, pulling Jason Murak in favor of Charlie Holman, the team’s regular starter. Holman proved his worth down the stretch, stoning Ranum with 20 seconds left to turn back Houston’s final scoring opportunity of the game.

Huppert finished with three goals and two assists to lead Colony, while Risto Paastama had a goal and three assists for the Knights, which also got goals from Lance Nezaticky, Rosy Fujimoto and Ryan Weeks. Styers and Humphreys each scored twice for the Hawks, while Ranum finished the game with a goal and three assists. Chad Lammers also added a goal for the Hawks.

The teams played a fairly even first period before a combination of slick Colony offense and Houston sloppiness enabled the Knights to take firm control in the second.

Styers got the first goal of the game, beating Murak with a hard slap shot from just inside the blue line on a play set up by Ranum, who deftly eluded a fallen linesman before setting up Styers.

Styers again tested Murak two minutes later, breaking in alone and rifling a hard shot into the Colony goalie’s midsection. Murak fell as if kicked by a horse, but held on tightly for one of the biggest of his 16 saves in the game.

Colony tied things up midway through the first when Paastama cleverly carried the puck through the Houston defense before leaving it for Nezaticky, who beat Houston starter Will Rauchenstein cleanly on the glove hand side.

The Hawks wasted little time pulling back in front, going up 2-1 when Humphreys made the Knights pay for turning the puck over at their own blue line by beating Murak just 30 seconds after Nezaticky had tied things up.

Colony finished off a fast-paced first period with two consecutive goals in the final four minutes of play to take the lead. Rosy Fujimoto started the rally by taking advantage of traffic in front to beat Rauchenstein with a low backhander. The Knights then capitalized on a Houston penalty with a power play goal from Ryan Weeks, whose rebound shot after a long scramble in front enabled the Knights to take a 3-2 lead into the first intermission.

Colony went up 4-2 early in the second when Huppert took the pass from Jesse Kray in front of Rauchenstein, weaved through a pair of defenders and deposited a cat-quick wrister into the back of the net.

Huppert set up the Knights' next goal, whipping the puck cross-ice to Paastama, whose wicked deflection left Rauchenstein with no chance.

The Hawks were able to cut the lead to 5-3 when Chad Lammers got a stick on Joe Van Hyning's slap shot from the blue line, deflecting the puck over Murak's shoulder from just in front of the Colony netminder.

Colony ended its big second period on a virtuoso performance by Huppert, who skated backwards through traffic in front of Rauchenstein, freezing the Houston sophomore before going top shelf from point-blank range for his second goal of the period.

“The second period we went flat,” Styers said.

The third period didn’t start out much better for the Hawks.

Huppert completed his hat trick by converting a perfect feed from Paastama, whose pass from the right side circle found the Colony captain's stick directly in front of Houston goalie Daniel Munoz, who relieved Rauchenstein to start the final period.

Houston finally began showing signs of life midway through the period when Munoz made the game’s best save, a flashy glove stop on Paastama that seemed to enliven the Hawks’ bench. Munoz played well in relief, stoping eight of nine shots in the period.

That play was followed shortly after by Ranum’s goal, a pretty backhander set up by Tim Scates, who made a tricky play to remain onsides at the blue line before passing to the streaking Ranum between the circles.

Mike Styers said the plays by Munoz and Scates seemed to breathe new life into his team.

“Little things spark a team,” he said. “Those kinds of things motivate guys.”

Ranum’s goal was followed by an unassisted backhander from Humphreys, then Styers’ second tally of the game.

But that was as close as the Hawks would get, as Colony held on in the final seconds to preserve the victory.

Styers said the game’s final minutes helped his team salvage some good out of what could have been a rather ugly loss.

“Overall, I told the guys to be pleased,” Styers said.

Mattson, meanwhile, said Colony learned a valuable lesson about skating until the final seconds have ticked off the clock.

“A win’s not a win until the buzzer goes off, that’s for sure,” he said.

Wolfpack attacks Houston playoff hopes

WASILLA — Houston's playoff hopes were dealt a big blow Saturday as Mid Alaska Conference rival West Valley skated away with an 8-4 win over the Hawks at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla.

The Hawks gave up three goals in the final two minutes and seven seconds of the first period to fall behind 3-0 after one. Houston then trailed 5-2 after two periods, but cut the West Valley lead to 5-4 on back-to-back goals by Casey Marre and Rye Humphreys in the third.

But the Wolfpack scored three consecutive goals to end the game and any hopes of a Hawks comeback.

Dillon styers had a goal and two assists for Houston, which also got a goal and an assist from Micah Ranum. Houston goalie Will Rauchenstein made 38 saves on 46 Wolfpack shots, while West Valley's Kaitlyn Evans turned back 12 of the 16 shots she faced to get the win.

Only the top two teams in the MAC make the state playoffs, and with just four conference games left, the Hawks are on the outside looking in. Houston has just one win and two points in five conference games, while second-place West Valley improved to 3-2-0 (6 points). Lathrop (6-1-0, 12 points) has already clinched the first MAC berth at state.

The Hawks travel to Fairbanks next week for their final four conference games of the season, where they'll likely need to win three or even all four contests to reach the post season.

Colony 7, Houston 6

Friday, Menard Memorial Ice Arena

Colony 3 3 1 — 7

Houston 2 1 3 — 6

First period — 1. Houston- Styers (Ranum), 2:40; 2. Colony- Nezaticky (Paatsama), 7:36; 3. Houston- Humphreys (Cole), 8:06; 4. Colony- Fujimoto (Thygeson), 11:10; 5. Colony- Weeks (Breck, Huppert), pp, 13:58.

Second period — 6. Colony- Huppert (Krieg), 4:17; 7. Colony- Paatsama (Huppert), 7:38; 8. Houston- Lammers (Van Hyning, Ranum), 9:45; 9. Colony- Huppert (Paatsama), pp, 10:49

Third period — 10. Colony- Huppert (Paastama, Nezaticky), 4:00; 11. Houston- Ranum (Scates), 11:32; 12. Houston- Humphreys (un), 12:59; 13. Houston- Styers (Ranum),13:32

Penalties: Colony 7 for 14 minutes, Houston 7 for 14. Shots: Colony 21 12 9 — 42, Houston 9 7 7 — 23. Saves: Colony- Murak 7 6 3 - 16, Holman x x 1 - 1, Houston- Rauchenstein 18 9 x- 27, Munoz x x 8 - 8.