Menard Tourney: Wolfpack edge Warriors

WASILLA — Following his team’s 2-1 win over the Wasilla Warriors, West Valley head coach Wayne Sawchuk told his players that he thought the Warriors were the better team for the first two periods, but the Wolfpack happened to be the better team in the third.

West Valley scored a pair of unanswered goals early in the third to edge the Warriors during the first round of the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Hockey Tournament at the Menard Memorial Arena in Wasilla.

West Valley scored 17 seconds into the third period and posted a power-play goal on a key 5-on-3 chance en route to earning the win in its season opener.

Sawchuk credited the win to opportunistic play.

“You do (have to take advantage of opportunities) in a close game like that,” Sawchuk said. “We weren’t generating much offense up to that point, so when you got a chance, you got to do it.”

Trailing 1-0, West Valley’s Tyler Bolles tied the score for his squad when he redirected a Sean Sylvester shot 17 seconds into the third. Sylvester smacked the puck toward the net from point, and Bolles was there to knock the shot past Wasilla goalie Chris Yaskus.

“I think the shot from the point was a little off-line and the forward made a great read on that,” Sawchuk said.

Midway through the period, after Wasilla was whistled for a pair of penalties within a 56-second span, Johnny McGee put a rebound past Yaskus to give the Wolfpack the lead.

“Any time you take penalties like that, those 5-on-3’s are tough to defend,” Wasilla head coach Bill Sturdevant said.

West Valley had 1 minute and 20 seconds to work with the two-man advantage, and after setting up around the Wasilla net, Andrew Johnson threw the puck in from the blue line. After Benny Henne put a shot on goal, McGee slipped between Wasilla’s final defenseman and Yaskus, and was able to slip the puck into the net.

Junior Jade Johnston gave the Warriors the 1-0 lead with a power-play goal early in the second period. Senior captain Dylan Troisi set up the play, sending a long pass up the ice to sophomore Mike Edwards, who slid the puck over to Johnston. With the puck, Johnston skated in front of the goal and sent a wrist shot into the upper shelf of the net.

The West Valley defense, led by goalie Casey Wilfer, made a handful of key stops late in the game to allow the Wolfpack to hold on to the win. Wasilla had its own 5-on-3 chance late in the game, and nearly tied the score during the final minutes.

With the two-man advantage, Wasilla freshman Chancie Hanson put a shot on net from the point. Wilfer made the save, but was moved out of position after stopping the shot. That left the puck sitting in front of a wide-open right side of the net. Johnston, crashing the net, was nearly there to pounce on the puck, but before the Wasilla forward to knock a shot in, West Valley’s Johnson made a big sweep in front of the net, and sent the puck down the ice.

“He’s a big kid,” Sawchuk said of Wilfer. “He’s going to make the first stop, and the defense did a great job of clearing any rebound after that.”

Despite the loss, Sturdevant said he’s happy with the progress of his young Wasilla team. The Warriors, who at many points during the game featured an all underclassmen lineup on the ice, are now 1-1-0.

“It’s the second game. We’ve still got a lot of guys who are still learning,” Sturdevant said. “I’m happy with the effort.

“We’ll rebound from this. I’m not worried about this loss.”

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

West Valley 2, Wasilla 1

Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Hockey Tournament

Thursday, Menard Arena

First period — no scoring.

Second period — 1. Wasilla- J. Johnston (Edwards, Troisi) pp 12:24.

Third period — 2. West Valley- Bolles (Sylvester, Brady) 4x4 14:43, 3. West Valley- McGee (Henne, Johnson) pp 8:21.

Shots on goal: West Valley 8-6-8—22, Wasilla 5-11-6—22; Saves: West Valley- Wilfer 5-10-6—21, Wasilla- Yaskus 8-6-6—20; Power plays: West Valley 1-for-5, Wasilla 1-for-5; Penalties: West Valley 7-for-14, Wasilla 5-for-10.