Late Palmer goal forces hockey tie

WASILLA — The Palmer Moose seem to have a knack for scoring with extra attacker lately.

Last week, during the semifinal round of the Big Lake Lions Christmas Classic, Palmer scored a pair of goals with the extra attacker during the final 50 seconds of regulation to force overtime during a 6-5 win over Wasilla.

Thursday, the Moose used the sixth skater to strike once again.

Trailing late in regulation with the goalie pulled, Palmer used a Darren Fish goal to force overtime during a 1-1 tie with rival Colony.

“The six guys we had out on the ice are juniors and seniors. With that kind of senior leadership on a varsity hockey team, good things are going to happen,” Palmer head coach Jeff Varvil said after the tie.

Fish knocked in the goal with 1 minute and 2 seconds left in regulation. Defenseman Valery Dietz created the play with a shot from the left point. Nathaniel Savel deflected a rebound up front, leaving the puck at the right doorstep for Fish to tap into an open portion of net.

Varvil said the play is another example of the clutch effort he’s seen this season, and indicative of the growth and maturation of his leaders.

“Again, going into this year, we new we had the talent. It was the inconsistency, it was the leadership, maybe we were lacking. I don’t think we lacking that anymore,” Varvil said. “The kids are figuring it out, figuring out what it means to play at the varsity level, and what it means to play with the best teams in the state.”

The rivals entered the game tied at the top of the North Star Conference standings, and that’s where they’ll stay as Alaska prep squads skate into the holiday break. The Moose and Knights are now locked in a first-place tie with 4-0-1 marks in region play.

That also showed on the ice Thursday. Colony finished with 24 shots, and Palmer had 23.

“We both got opportunities to put pucks away,” Colony head coach Jamie Smith said. “They didn’t get a lot of shots in the first period-and-a-half, but got great opportunities in the third.”

Colony continued to have stellar goaltending with the 22 saves from sophomore Joey Diltz. It was the second start against Palmer in less than a week. Diltz recorded an 18-save shutout to lead Colony to a 4-0 win over the Moose in the Big Lake Lions Christmas Classic title game last week.

Varvil praised Palmer goaltender Cody Grogan, who rebounded from last Saturday’s loss to Colony, with 23 saves against the Knights on Thursday.

“I think Grogan had a good bounce-back game. That’s what juniors and seniors do. They bounce back,” Varvil said.

Overall, Varvil praised his team’s improvement and what he saw Thursday night, compared to the last meeting with Colony.

“I think we were coming off that high from the Wasilla game,” Varvil said, referring to the overtime victory over the Warriors. “We flat out didn’t play well.”

Varvil said the Moose also tweaked their strategy on the ice.

“We ran a different forecheck, a little more conservative. We weren’t giving up the odd-man rushes,” Varvil said. “The entire game was a chess match, which lines to put out. Neither of us wanted to be too aggressive. We were waiting for the turnovers.”

Otto Thiele gave the Knights a lead late in the second period. Thiele, on the left side of the ice, deflected Dayne Cole’s shot from the left point into the right side of the net with 1:29 left in the second to give the Knights the lead.

The game was Colony’s second against a rival in as many nights, and ninth in 18 days. Colony beat Wasilla 4-2 at the Brett Memorial Ice Arena on Wednesday.

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

Palmer 1, Colony 1

Thursday, Menard Arena

First period — no scoring.

Second period — 1. Colony- Thiele (Cole, Monaco) 1:39.

Third period — 2. Palmer- Fish (Savel, Dietz) ea 1:02.

Overtime — no scoring.

Shots on goal: Palmer 4-9-9-1—23, Colony 5-6-8-5—24; Saves: Palmer- Grogan 5-5-8-5—23, Colony- Diltz 4-9-8-1—22.