Moose blank Knights, jump into first place

PALMER — Parity is the word most often used to describe the group of Valley teams in the North Star Conference this season. And that parity has been particularly apparent during the final stretch of the regular season.

Only four days after suffering a 6-1 loss to the Colony Knights, Palmer bounced back to score a tough 1-0 win over Colony Tuesday at the MTA Events Center in Palmer.

"I'm proud of the kids' effort," Palmer head coach Eric Troisi said.

Palmer forward Chris Dojka scored the game's lone goal, a power-play tally in the second period, and goalie Cody Grogan enjoyed a career night, with a 31-save shutout.

"Our goalie was pretty fantastic, but the kids thought they had the chance to win. At this age, that's half the battle," Troisi said.

Even during the five-goal loss to the Knights last Saturday, Troisi said he felt his skaters played hard. But Colony had a big game.

"I thought Colony played a fantastic game Saturday night," Troisi said. "I got ourselves in a 3-0 hole. That's hard to battle out of."

The North Star's three Valley teams (Palmer, Colony and Wasilla) have spent the season jockeying for position within the conference's top 3, and Tuesday's outcome shook the cluster once again. Palmer improved to 7-2-0, moved into first place and locked up a top-2 seed in the upcoming North Star Conference Championships. With the Colony loss, Wasilla (6-2-1) also cemented a top-2 seed. Colony (6-3-1) will be the No. 3 seed in the tournament, which starts Feb. 5 at the Menard Arena in Wasilla.

The Warriors host Palmer in the final game of the regular season Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Brett Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla. The winner earns the top seed in the conference. The loser get the second seed.

A Wasilla loss would leave the Warriors at 6-3-1, tied with Colony. Wasilla does hold the tiebreaker with a 1-0-1 record against Colony in head-to-head action this season.

Homer (3-6-1) is currently in fourth place, followed by Soldotna (2-6-1) and Kenai (2-7-0). Soldotna and Kenai play Saturday at 4:15 p.m. in Soldotna. The loser of the Soldotna-Kenai game will finish sixth in the conference, and open tournament play against third-seeded Colony.

Tuesday, with the Moose skating on the power play, Dojka broke free from the defense, skated into the left wing circle and snapped a shot into the far side of the Colony net to provide the game-winning goal for the Moose.

"He's the unsung hero on our team," Troisi said of Dojka.

Troisi said Dojka has made tremendous strides both on and off the ice, and has become a key player for the Moose.

"In Chris' case, he's matured so much from last year to this year. He's a totally different kid," Troisi said. "He's a leader. He does whatever he can do. He's got a great attitude. I'm really impressed with his maturity. He's been playing well, carrying that second line."

Dojka provided the lone goal and Grogan's stellar play kept Colont off the scoreboard.

"Cody played great," Troisi said.

Grogan stopped at least nine Colony shots in each period, and 13 in the third. Grogan made a number of game-saving stops, particularly during a rush of pressure late in the contest.

Troisi also praised his defense overall.

"The nice thing is, we were battling, trying to block shots, clearing pucks, skating hard," Troisi said. "It makes you proud when they compete like that."

Troisi said the Moose are expecting another tough game Saturday.

"Wasilla is well-coached. It's for the league title, which is important to us. I'm sure it's important to Wasilla. It's going to be a heck of a hockey game," Troisi said.

Palmer 1, Colony 0

Tuesday, MTA Events Center

First period — no scoring.

Second period — 1. Palmer- Dojka (Foster) pp 8:40.

Third period — no scoring.

Shots on goal: Colony 9-9-13--31, Palmer 6-8-10--24; Saves: Colony- Diltz 6-7-10--23, Palmer- Grogan 9-9-13--31.

Colony skates past West Valley

FAIRBANKS — The Colony Knights scored a big road win over West Valley, beating the Wolfpack 2-1 in Fairbanks Thursday evening.

Colton Ketchum netted the game-winner at the 10:29 mark of the third to give the Knights the victory. Jacob Link also scored for Colony.

Joey Diltz made 36 saves for the Knights.