Malemutes survive final rush, edge Warriors

WASILLA — Mere inches and seconds separated Wasilla from the game-tying score, but the Lathrop Malemutes held on to grab a 2-1 win over the Warriors during the first round of the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Hockey Tournament at the Curtis C. II Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla

Chancie Hanson swept the puck from the corner and Will Harren nearly knocked the puck into the net with four seconds left of regulation to cap a wild final minute of the third.

“If it bounced a little different off our stick, we might have had a score in the last four seconds,” Wasilla head coach Bill Sturdevant said.

Hanson, Harren and Teegan Harrington all had stellar chances during the final minute of play, but Lathrop goalie Brandon Brown stood strong to help the Malemutes save the one-goal win and advance to tonight’s semifinal round.

“We had the chances,” Sturdevant said. “Sometimes the pucks just don’t end up in the back of the net.”

Hanson had a pair of shots in the final 57 seconds and set up rebound chances with each opportunity. Hanson slapped a shot from the point on goal, and Harrington, sitting at the doorstep, nearly swept it in.

With less than 10 seconds left, Hanson snapped a wrister on goal. Brown made the save, but sent the rebound into the corner. Hanson was able to beat the Lathrop defense to the puck and center it back to a crowd in front of the net.

Harrington also had a quality shot, set up by an Adam Apangolook pass, with 1:24 left.

Ty Munson and Chad Horn each scored for Lathrop to help move the Malemutes. Munson caught the Warriors off guard, getting the wrap-around goal just 1:08 into play.

“I thought we were a little flat the first period,” Sturdevant said. “The first goal they scored, you could kind of see the whole play, what it was turning into there.”

Lathrop, skating on the power play, got a puck to trickle by Wasilla goalie Rhys Jones with 4:54 to play in the second. Horn had the final touch on the puck to grab the game-winner.

Wasilla scored its lone goal early in the second to tie the score at 1. With the Warriors playing with the advantage, Harren put a wrister on net.

Teammate Brett Keene grabbed the rebound to keep the play alive, and Fletcher was able to cash in from the left side of the net.

“I thought we responded well after the first period,” Sturdevant said. “Overall, I’m happy with the way we played. I thought we could have been tighter in some areas, but I think it’s OK to make those mistakes now. It’s early in the season. We always want to win games, but we have a whole lot of hockey left.”

Jones was solid in net, making 31 saves for Wasilla.

“He made some big saves,” Sturdevant said. “There were a couple of funny bounces, but he made some real big saves.”

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com. Follow him at twitter.com/matsu_sports.

Lathrop 2, Wasilla 1

Menard Memorial Tournament

First period — 1. Lathrop- Munson (Carlson, Wolter) 13:52.

Second period — 2. Wasilla- Fletcher (Keene, Harren) pp 13:25; 3. Lathrop- Horn (Carlson, Nilson) pp 4:54.

Shots on goal: Lathrop 8-12-13—33, Wasilla 11-9-10—30; Saves: Lathrop- Brown 11-8-10—29, Wasilla- Jones 7-11-13—31.