KNIGHTS TAKE 7TH IN STATE HOCKEY TOURNEY

SOLDOTNA - The Colony hockey teams season came to a screeching halt with two losses in the first two games of the state tournament.

Colony was blanked by a high-scoring Chugiak squad 6-0 in the opener Thursday and then fell 2-1 to West Valley in consolation bracket action Friday.

The Knights, who won the North Star Conference tournament as the third seed a week ago, settled for seventh place in the state after posting a tremendous run at the end of the regular season.

There was no surprises in the finale, as the Service Cougars captured the state title with a 4-1 victory over Dimond Saturday night. The Cougars only three losses of the season came after the team was forced to forfeit three games for using an ineligible player. The team was not beat on the ice this season.

Chugiak 6, Colony 0

Chugiak goalie Pam Dryer held on for the shutout as the Mustangs limited the Knights to 12 shots on goal.

The Mustangs had a 2-0 lead after the first period and added their third 3:12 into the second against a team they lost to, 5-3, at the end of the regular season.

Chugiak was without its most productive line in that loss. Trey Shafer, Billy Bagron and Derek Anderson combined for 11 points on Thursday.

Colony coach Eric Troisi said shots on goal are important, but he looks at scoring opportunities and Chugiak had a lot of those.

They had 25 good chances to score, Troisi said. Physically, they are a lot stronger than us. What can you say, they totally dominated the play. We have a young team. I figure this is experience for them. Im glad we made it to state so the kids can see what its like.

Chugiak2 1 3 6

Colony0 0 0 0

First period 1, Chugiak, Bagron 1 (Shafer, Anderson), :36; 2, Chugiak, Little 1 (Lee), 14:27. Penalties Chugiak 1 for 2:00.

Second period 3, Chugiak, Shafer 1 (un.), 3:12. Penalties Chugiak 1 for 2:00; Colony 2 for 4:00.

Third period 4, Chugiak, Billman 1 (Anderson, Bagron), pp, 1:12; 5, Chugiak, Shafer 2 (Bagron), 6:30; 6, Chugiak, Corner 1 (Little, Lee), 7:13. Penalties Chugiak 1 for 2:00; Colony 2 for 4:00.

Goalies Chugiak, Dreyer (12 shots, 12 saves), Colony, Atwell/Strohmeyer (41 shots, 35 saves).

West Valley 2, Colony 1

West Valleys victory ended the Region III/4A champion Knights season, but Troisi was not at all disappointed in the teams performance.

I thought the kids played good, Troisi said. Penalties hurt us, (but) it was a good game.

Tyler Oester had both tallies for West Valley, the first at 4:59 of the first period. His other goal, with 9:11 left in the second, was the only insurance the Wolfpack needed.

Colony captain Nathan Schwartzbauer cut West Valleys lead to one goal with a top-shelf wrist shot from the circle. The power-play goal came at 8:03 of the second.

The Knights were in penalty trouble throughout the third and were unable to bridge the gap.

Colony goaltender Greg Strohmeyer turned away 20 of 22 shots, while West Valleys goalie Seth Thomas was tested with just 17 shots on goal.

I thought we could come back, Troisi said. There werent a whole lot of scoring chances. Im really happy with the season. We won regions and Im really proud of how the kids played at the end of the year.

West Valley coach Shawn Lundgrun complimented the hard working Knights, who had lost to the Wolfpack 7-1 early in the season.

The bottom line is we ended up on the consolation bracket, Lundgrun said. Sure, its do or die, but we wanted to go out with some pride and win a couple before going back to Fairbanks.

Colony 0 1 0 1

West Valley1 1 0 2

First period 1, West Valley, Oester 1 (Levison, Wood), pp, 4:59. Penalties Colony 3 for 9:00. West Valley 1 for 2:00.

Second period 2, West Valley, Oester 2 (Levison), 5:49; 3, Colony, Schwartzbauer 1 (Reda, Guild), pp, 8:03. Penalties Colony 1 for 2:00; West Valley 4 for 8:00.

Third period None. Penalties Colony 3 for 6:00; West Valley 2 for 4:00.

Goalies Colony, Strohmeyer (22 shots, 20 saves); West Valley, Thomas (17, 16).

Christine Troyke is a sports reporter for the Peninsula Clarion.