Moose score first state hockey win since 2009

WASILLA — Each time the North Pole Patriots struck, Palmer had the answer. Now the Moose have the chance to skate in the state semifinals for the first time in a decade.

Palmer used a pair of unanswered goals to post a 4-2 win over the Patriots during the first round of the ASAA Division II First National Cup Thursday at the Menard Arena in Wasilla.

“It feels great,” Palmer alternate captain Luke Theisen said after the win. “The team hasn’t been in the position to do this for quite a while.”

The win marks Palmer’s first quarterfinal victory since the Moose beat West Anchorage 4-0 in the 2009 4A quarterfinals. Palmer, which was moved to the Division II level when ASAA reclassified hockey during the offseason, is in a state tournament for the first time since 2012. Palmer is now a win away from a trip to the state title game for the first time in 30 years.

North Pole tied the score twice in the game, but each time Palmer was able to tally a quick go-ahead goal. North Pole’s Daniel Crutcher tapped a puck into the net with 9:43 left in the second to tie the score at 1. Palmer won the ensuing face-off, and 12 seconds later, Darian Wilson snapped a wrister from the right wing circle into the far side of the net to give the Moose the 2-1 lead.

Early in the third, Crutcher struck again, lifting a backhander high into the net from between the circles, to tie the game at 2. Just more than a minute later, Palmer’s Noah Stoll used his reach to sweep a rebound in. Stoll’s goal gave Palmer the 3-2 advantage.

“We keep on it,” Theisen said. “We’re not a team that wants to quit all of the time.”

With the win, Palmer moves forward and will play Railbelt Conference rival Soldotna Friday at 5 p.m. in the semifinals. It will be the third meeting of the year. Soldotna snuck past Palmer 3-2 in overtime twice during the regular season. Theisen said the Moose are excited to get another crack at the Stars.

“Another tough competition. We love that kind of game,” Theisen said.

Palmer, the fourth seed in the bracket, qualified with an at-large bid. The Moose finished 4-6 during the regular season in conference play.

“We’ve come through a lot of adversity,” Theisen said. “We’ve put in a lot of work.”

Despite not scoring won of the Railbelt’s three automatic berths after finishing fourth in the conference, Theisen said the Moose feel like they deserve to be in the state tourney.

“We do,” Theisen said. “We have the confidence we can continue to play at this level.”

North Pole, the bracket’s fifth seed, finished first in the Aurora Conference this year.

Palmer head coach Dean Wilson said the Moose are missing key players on their top two forward lines due to injury, and didn’t have their best game Thursday. But he’s happy his squad prevailed.

“We found a way,” Wilson said. “Obviously we’re happy to be moving on to the second round, but it could have gone either way in that one.”

Like Theisen, Wilson said getting a quick score after each of North Pole’s goals was key.

“Good goals at key times,” Wilson said.

Overall, Wilson said his team has played well, but the Moose are still looking for a complete game against the top teams in the division.

“Trying to put together three (periods) together is not easy. We’re not talking about just a section of the team. It’s the goalie all the way up to the centerman. We’ve got to get 45 minutes out of them,” Wilson said.

In four of Palmer’s six conference losses, the Moose were tied with their opponent entering the third period or overtime.

“We haven’t got that yet, but this is a good time to do it,” Wilson said.

Theisen and Nathan Hooks also scored for the Moose. Hooks used an unassisted goal in the first to give Palmer the 1-0 lead. Theisen added a power play goal in the third. TJ O’Rourke made 30 saves in the Palmer win.

The Railbelt finished 4-0 on the first day of the tourney. Top-seeded Soldotna started the day with a 10-0 win over Delta. Second-seeded Juneau beat Tri-Valley 8-1 in the nightcap. Homer also beat Glennallen/Kenny Lake 12-1.

In addition to the Palmer-SoHi semifinal at 5 p.m., Homer and Juneau will meet in the semis Friday at 7:30 p.m.

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