Moose, Warriors open state tourney play at Menard Thursday

WASILLA — The Palmer Moose and Wasilla Warriors used road wins to earn another shot to play in front of a home crowd.

Both scored wins during the semifinal round of the North Star Conference Championships in Soldotna last weekend to punch their state tournament tickets, and Palmer followed with a 5-2 win over the Warriors in the NSC title game.

Now, both Valley squads will skate into first-round play of the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Championships, which begins Thursday at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla. Palmer opens tourney play against Service at 5 p.m., and Wasilla will face Dimond at 7:30 p.m.

Palmer moves into the tourney on a four-game winning streak. The Moose enjoyed a great first-half to the season, but suffered tough losses to Wasilla, South Anchorage and Soldotna after the holiday break. Following the 4-2 loss to the Stars, Palmer was able to get back on track.

“I think we did rebound,” Palmer head coach Brad Hanson said. “I think the kids always knew what we were capable of, believed in the end we could win it. There were some growing pains, but that’s good to go through. I think it made us a better team.”

The Moose blanked Homer 2-0 in the semifinals before the three-goal win over the Warriors. Senior forward Ivan Good, who was named first-team All-NSC after the tourney, scored four of his team’s seven goals in the tournament.

The Moose open state play with a team they have not seen yet this season, Service.

“We saw Service play at the (Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Tournament). They’re obviously a good team,” Hanson said.

Service is the No. 3 seed from the Cook Inlet Conference. The Cougars, the 2010-11 state runner-up, finished third in the CIC tourney with a 5-1 win over Chugiak. Service suffered a 3-1 loss to defending state champion South Anchorage in the CIC semifinals.

“It’s a decent draw for us,” Hanson said. “It doesn’t matter who you play from Anchorage, you’ve got to be ready to go.”

Wasilla knocked off the NSC’s top seed en route to its third straight trip to the state tournament. The Warriors, the only team to play three games in the NSC tournament, opened with a 5-2 win over Kenai on Friday. The fourth-seeded Warriors edged top-seeded Soldotna 2-1 in the semifinals Saturday morning. Palmer had a bye in the tournament’s first round.

The tournament was condensed to just two days after the first day of the NSC was postponed due to a road closure. An avalanche closed the Seward Highway on Thursday, the morning of the first day of the tournament. Wasilla head coach Bill Sturdevant said the Warriors certainly faced adversity when dealt with three games in just about 24 hours.

“It was tough,” Sturdevant said. “What it really shows, it speaks volumes for the players’ mental toughness. You’ve got to be mentally tough to go through a grind like that.”

Wasilla’s big win of the tourney was the victory over Soldotna. Sturdevant said it was part of a wild NSC event, in which fans also saw sixth-seeded Homer beat third-seeded Colony.

The Warriors used great weekends by a number of players to score its spot in the state tournament. Senior captain Chanice Hanson, who was named first-team All-NSC for the third straight year after the final game, finished the tournament with three goals and three assists. Freshman forward Colton Fletcher led the tournament in scoring with seven points (3-4-7).

The victories in the region tournament set up a first-round date with Dimond, the top seed from the CIC.

Dimond beat South 5-3 in the CIC championship game.

Thursday will mark the third meeting of the year for the Lynx and Warriors.

“We’ve seen Dimond twice this year, the second time was definitely our better showing,” Sturdevant said. “We definitely have to show up, work hard and do everything we can to be prepared.”

Dimond is a tough draw, but Wasilla always expects a tough first-round game, Sturdevant said.

“Every year we go into state we’re going to get a tough opponent,” Sturdevant said.

In other first-round action, South faces Mid-Alaska Conference runner-up West Valley at noon. MAC champion Lathrop meets Chugiak, the fourth seed from the CIC, at 2:30 p.m.