Knights overwhelmed by Cougars

Coming off Wednesday's stunning win over the second-ranked Dimond Lynx, Colony put its hockey team to the supreme test by hosting the top-ranked Service Cougars Friday at Brett Memorial Ice Arena.

Asking any team to beat the top two teams over a three-day span may be too much to ask, but the Knights stayed close to the Cougars 2-1 through two periods before succumbing to a third period barrage and falling 8-1.

"We played five out of six good periods of hockey this week," said Colony coach Eric Troisi. "Service is a dynamite hockey team. We couldn't stop their momentum in the third period."

The defense played well through the first two periods to hold the hard-charging attack of the Cougars.

The third period unraveled for the Knights, however, as the constant pressure of the Service attack began to strike.

Set up with great passing and skating, Service forwards caused turnovers and got free for open shots on the Colony goal, scoring six times in the final period.

"We need to work on slowing down (opposing) forwards," said Troisi. "When playing a team like this, the defense doesn't have time to recover."

Service got 23 shots on goal in the third period alone to cap a 45-shot game, compared to Colony's 17.

Colony scored first in the contest with a goal from Doug Lehe at 8:46 in the first period. Chris Crosta took control of the puck on a faceoff in Service's zone and delivered a pass to Lehe skating down the middle. Lehe took a few steps and sent a wrist shot over the glove of the Cougar goaltender.

Colony almost added a shorthanded goal late in the first period when the Service goaltender came out to retrieve the puck by the sideboards. A charging Tommy Lehe intercepted the goaltender's pass and sent a backhander to the empty net. As the puck entered the crease, a Service defenseman skated in and stopped the shot just before the goal line.

The Service goaltender would not make that mistake for the remainder of the game.

The Cougars came out charging in the second period, but the Knights defense stayed tough to plug the middle and kept Service's forwards from coming free for good shots.

Defensemen Matt Luthi and Nate Pokryfki continually laid out their bodies to effectively block Cougar shots.

Despite the effort, the Knights gave up two goals to the relentless Cougars in the second period.

With the start of the third period, the game was still up for grabs with Service holding a slim 2-1 advantage. After a few minutes, that would all change.

Service scored four times in the first six minutes of the third period to put the game out of reach at 6-1. The Cougars added two more goals later in the contest to take the 8-1 win.

"These two games were so physical that the kids were just mentally and physically tired by the third period," said Troisi. "This gives us a good gauge of what we need to do to get better. We must use this game to stay tenacious."

Colony's next game will against Soldotna Friday at Brett Memorial Ice Arena.