Moose storm, Hawks stunned during first day of the Division II state hockey tourney

The Palmer Moose scored a lopsided victory and the Houston Hawks were stunned in overtime during the first day of the ASAA First National Cup Division II state hockey tournament Thursday at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex.

Palmer skated to a 10-1 win over Tri-Valley and Juneau-Douglas upset Houston, the defending state champions, 5-4 in extra time.

Peyton Neuman and Cooper Frank scored two goals each to lead second-seeded Palmer into the state semifinals. Bryce Horacek, Liam Hilscher, Colin Bigelow, Jacob Logan, Kinan Greco and Nicholas McQuillen also scored. Elijah Von Gunten and Zander Anderson had two assists each.

Emily Christman made 17 saves in the win for the Moose. Palmer outshot the Viking Warriors 40-18.

Dylan Sowa scored with 6:01 left in the extra period to lift sixth-seeded Juneau-Douglas to the 5-4 win over third-seeded Houston. Sowa led the Crimson Bears with four goals in the win, including Juneau’s final three goals.

Houston’s Daniel Matveev led the Hawks with a hat trick and an assist, factoring into all four of Houston’s goals. Matveev gave the Hawks a 1-0 lead, and tied the game at 2-2 and 3-3. Zasim Konev scored on the power play with 5:29 left in regulation to help force overtime. Matveev recorded the first assist on the goal. Domnin Efimov also bagged an assist.

Houston outshot the Bears 38-28. Caleb Friend made 34 saves for Juneau. Dylan Shaffer stopped 23 shots for the Hawks.

Palmer and Juneau will play Friday at 4 p.m. in the semifinals. Houston will face Tri-Valley Friday at 11 a.m. in the consolation round.

On the top side of the bracket, top-seeded Soldotna and fifth-seeded Kenai also advanced to the semis. SoHi beat Delta 7-2. Kenai edged fourth-seeded North Pole 1-0. The Stars and Kards will play in the semis Friday at 6:30 p.m.

The championship game is slated for Saturday at 5 p.m.

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