Moose earn well-earned win

JEREMIAH BARTZ/ Sports Editor

WASILLA -- It has not been the easiest season for the Palmer High School hockey program.

With a young and inexperienced squad, the season has been one long learning curve. Unfortunately for the Moose, the learning process comes with discovering how to learn from losses. But even though the Moose have been forced to deal with multiple losses, on Tuesday Palmer had the opportunity to celebrate a win.

Bree Baskin, Tyson Alger, Livio Arpagaus and Hunter Richards each scored multiple goals and the Moose earned an 11-1 win over Susitna Valley at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena.

Regardless of the outcome or the opponent, the most important thing for Palmer was skating off the ice with the 'W' on Tuesday.

"It takes a little heat off," Palmer head coach Norm Rousey said. "We've played better, but even if you play well and lose, it's not necessarily the funnest game. This is just a fun game."

A fun game for the Moose allowed for great opportunity for the players. Skaters such as Baskin, a blueliner and the Palmer captain, got the opportunity to play a different position, and young athletes such as freshman Keith Christopher got the opportunity to see plenty of time in a varsity contest and figure into the scoring. Christopher scored his first career goal in the third period.

"I think its a big deal. Losing by multiple goals, double digits -- it really gets the moral down," Baskin said. "(A win) really helps bring the team together."

Baskin, the top blueliner on the Palmer squad, had the opportunity to play center during the second period and took advantage, notching a natural hat trick during a 48-second span.

With 1 minute and 8 seconds left in the second period, Baskin skated toward the Su Valley crease and put a puck in the upper shelf of the Ram net. Sixteen seconds later Baskin buried a wrist shot for her second goal and 32 seconds after that the senior poked the puck across the red night to post the hat trick.

Richards, Alger and Arpagaus each scored twice in the game. Richards, Palmer's assistant captain, scored in the first and third period, Alger scored twice in the second frame and Arpagaus notched an even strength goal in the first and a power play tally in the third.

Jeremy Wright also scored for Palmer.

For the Moose much of the season has been dedicated to the focus on improvement and fundamentals, rather than concentrating on wins and losses, and Rousey said he sees his team skating forward in a positive direction.

"I think we're getting there," Rousey said. "That's one thing I can see -- we're getting better."

"It's still just a matter of taking responsibility for improvement, its not going to happen with a magic drill or magic speech. All our improvements come from hard work and dedication," Rousey said. "Those are the fundamentals we are trying to

instill."