Knights, Warriors skate into North Star hockey final

PALMER — With Billy Yoder, being his typical Billy Yoder self, a sense of anxiety hovered over the Colony bench when Soldotna tied the game at 1 early in the third period.

But later in the final frame, Colony finally got to Yoder, SoHi’s standout goaltender, and the Knights scored a 4-1 win over the Stars in the semifinal round of the North Star Conference Championships Friday at the MTA Events Center in Palmer.

“I didn’t like that 1-1 game. That was a turning point for them,” Colony head coach Jamie Smith said after the win.

After Soldotna’s Jace Urban tied the score at 1 with 11:28 left in the third, Colony scored three unanswered goals to move into the NSC title game for the third straight year and grab the conference’s final bid to the state tournament.

“Our leaders stepped up,” Smith said.

Foster Riekena, Otto Thiele and Jake Hessinger each scored during the final 6:40 of play. Riekena scored the eventual game-winner, a goal created by the continued effort of Hessinger. As Hessinger worked the puck out of the right wing corner, slipping toward the ice, Hessinger sent a sharp pass between the circles to Riekena, who fired a shot past Yoder.

“I told them, keep working, the time will come,” Smith said.

About four minutes later, Thiele scored to give the Knights the 3-1 lead. Hessinger added to the advantage, burying a shot into the empty net with 26 seconds left in regulation.

Cooper Smith put the Knights on top late in the second period. Thiele pulled a puck of the back boards, and sent a centering pass to Smith, who cut between the circles to put the puck past Yoder. Urban tied the game early in the third, taking a Colony turnover at the bottom of the right wing circle and pushing a shot into the Colony net.

Yoder, a junior, made 30 saves in the loss.

“He made some really nice saves,” Smith said.

Colony will face rival Wasilla Saturday at 4:15 in the NSC final. Wasilla, the top seed, scored a 5-3 win over Palmer earlier in the evening.

Garrett Conroy and Alex Clark scored a pair of goals each to help Wasilla advance to the conference title game for the first time since 2015. Porter Schachle also scored for the Warriors.

RJ Avezac, Jaron Ketterman and David Scully scored for the Moose.

Palmer goalie Cody Grogan capped his stellar career with 50 saves in the loss.

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

Colony 4, Soldotna 1

North Star Conference semifinals

Friday, MTA Events Center

First period — no scoring.

Second period — 1. Colony- Smith (Thiele, Ketchum) 2:12.

Third period — 2. Soldotna- J. Urban (unassisted) 11:28; 3. Colony- Riekena (Hessinger, Smith) 6:40; 4. Colony- Thiele (Ketchum, Kirsch) 2:04; 5. Colony- Hessinger (Thiele) en 0:26.

Shots on goal: Soldotna 5-5-2—12, Colony 7-11-15—33, Saves: Soldotna- Yoder 7-10-13—30, Colony- Diltz 5-5-1—11.

Wasilla 5, Palmer 3

North Star Conference semifinals

Friday, MTA Events Center

First period — 1. Wasilla- Conroy (Moore) 9:25; 2. Wasilla- Conroy (unassisted) 6:44; 3. Palmer- Avezac (unassisted) 0:06.

Second period — 4. Wasilla- Clark (Harren) 11:40; 5. Wasilla- Schachle (Harren, Clark) 4;39.

Third period — 6. Wasilla- Clark (Schachle, Moore) en 0:26; 7. Palmer- Scully (unassisted) 0:00.

Shots on goal: Palmer 4-3-6—13, Wasilla 17-19-18—54; Saves: Palmer- Grogan 15-17-18—50, Wasilla- Carney 3-3-4—10.