Moose extend North Star hockey lead

SOLDOTNA — The home ice at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex held up Friday night in a hotly contested battle between the Palmer Moose and Soldotna Stars hockey squads,

After 45 intense minutes of play, Palmer left the rink with a 3-2 Northern Lights Conference victory over SoHi after trailing by two goals.

Noah Richards scored twice for Palmer — the second goal an empty-netter — and goalie Cody Grogan stopped 22 of 24 shots on net to preserve the win. Bowen Webb scored the tying goal midway through the second period and Taylor Foster tallied the game-winner with 9 minutes, 24 seconds, left in the game.

“The kids didn’t stop, they just kept working hard,” said Palmer assistant coach Tim Popowski. “Their efforts paid off.”

Jace Urban and Cameron Knowlton scored for Soldotna, while Stars goalie Billy Yoder saved 36 of 39 shots in another inspiring performance in net.

It was clear by the dying minutes of the first period that the two teams were playing for more than just the win itself. After Urban scored the opening goal with just under four minutes to play — receiving a nifty pass from teammate Knowlton behind the net to chip it in — SoHi soon found itself on a 5-on-3 power play after a brief confrontation between the Stars and Moose landed two Palmer players in the sin bin.

In the ensuing two minutes, the Moose managed to hang on and kill of the penalty, but tempers were heating up.

“Anything from the Valley is kind of unexpected,” said SoHi assistant coach Chad Longfellow. “Just keeping the kids focused is the biggest thing, not just letting them wander, letting them see this gong show.”

Palmer ended with 12 total penalties for the game, while Soldotna was charged with 10.

Knowlton took an assist from Levi Hensley, then won the puck battle with a Palmer defender and stuck the shot in the top the netting to open up a 2-0 lead for SoHi 87 seconds into the second period.

After the strong play early by SoHi, the tide began to turn. Following the first period in which Soldotna outshot Palmer 11-9, the Moose turned up the pressure by outshooting SoHi 14-8 in the second period and 17-5 in the third. Palmer also enjoyed a brief 5-on-3 power play at one point.

“It took a little while, but about halfway through the second period, they kind of stopped worrying about the calls that were being made and focused in on the game,” Popowski said. “It was momentum, and after we got that first goal they carried that momentum.”

Popowski said he made a few adjustments by moving some of the players around in efforts to close the gap, including Josh Meyers up to the front offensive line. The changes paid off, as Palmer slipped in its first goal of the night with 10:18 to go in the second frame. Richards blasted home a long range shot with six seconds left on the 5-on-3 power play to close the deficit.

Webb’s goal just 1:22 later was taken on a rebound off the pads of Yoder, who blocked the initial shot but couldn’t close the gap between him and the right post, missing Webb’s attempt on a tough angle.

Longfellow said once Palmer scored and began forcing more shots on net, the mental edge of the Stars quickly began to disappear.

“We were a little undisciplined,” Longfellow said. “We were out of position at times, out of sync, a couple of miscues, and just not being ready.”

With 9:24 to go in the third period, Dietz took the puck after Palmer won a faceoff in the SoHi zone and sent it flying towards Yoder, who blocked the shot but, again, missed the rebound opportunity by Foster, who notched the go-ahead goal.

Yoder was pulled with 30 seconds left in the game, which helped as Knowlton was able to win the puck and nearly tie things up with 16 seconds left. However, after Grogan caught the puck to stop play, Palmer won the ensuing faceoff and Richards blasted the puck nearly the full length of the ice to nail the coffin with an empty netter.

Palmer capped its undefeated weekend on the Kenai Peninsula with a 5-2 win over Kenai Central Saturday afternoon at the Soldotna Sports Center.

Nathanial Savel netted the hat trick to help Palmer grab the win and stay undefeated in the North Star Conference with a league-best 4-0 mark.

Josh Meyers scored twice for the Moose and Taylor Foster finished with three assists. Goalie Cody Grogan stopped 17 shots and also picked up an assist on Palmer’s second goal.

Palmer opened its weekend with a 4-1 win over Homer on Thursday.

Palmer 5, Kenai 2

Saturday, Soldotna Sports Center

First period — 1. Palmer- Meyers (Ropka, Foster) 7:36.

Second period — 2. Palmer- Savel (Foster) 12:39; 3. Palmer- Savel (Foster, Grogan); 4. Palmer- Meyers (Fish, Richards) 5:46.

Third period — 5. Kenai- Maxon (O’Brien, Mercado) 9:52; 6. Kenai- Meese (Bullot) 0:43; 7. Palmer- Savel (Avezak, Richards) en 0:12.

Shots on goal: Palmer 13-22-12—47, Kenai 6-3-10—19, Saves: Palmer- Grogan 6-3-8—17; Kenai- Williams 12-19-11—42.

Palmer 4, Soldotna 2

Friday, Soldotna Sports Center

First period — 1. Soldotna- Urban (Knowlton) 3:58.

Second period — 2. Soldotna- Knowlton (Hensley) 13:33; 3. Palmer- Richards (Meyers, Fish) pp 10:18; 4. Palmer- Webb (Savel) 8:56.

Third period — 5. Palmer- Foster (Dietz) pp 9:24; 6. Palmer- Richards (unassisted) en 00:11.

Shots on goal: Palmer 9-14-17—40, Soldotna 11-8-5—24; Saves: Palmer- Grogan 10-7-5—22, Soldotna- Yoder 9-12-15—36.

Palmer 4, Homer 1

Thursday, Kevin Bell Ice Arena

First period — 1. Palmer- Foster (Meyers, Fish) 6:09;

Second period — 2. Palmer- Fish (unassisted) 14:19; 3. Palmer- Avezak (Keil, Savel) 6:32.

Third period — 4. Homer- Blakely (Kuzmin) 12:19; 5. Palmer- Keil (Savel) 6:20.

Shots on goal: Palmer 10-12-5—27, Homer 8-3-8—19; Saves: Palmer- Grogan 8-3-7—18, Homer- Swanson 9-10-4—23.