No quit

WASILLA — The Colony Knights may not have a ton of veterans in the lineup, but Colony head coach Jamie Smith knows those upperclassmen are going to have to deliver to give the Knights a shot.

And Thursday, Colony senior Daryl Belanger delivered.

Belanger notched the hat trick to help the Knights force a 3-3 tie with Soldotna at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla.

“We need that rock,” Smith said after the tie. “If Daryl can be that rock, we’re going to be successful.”

Belanger scored a pair of breakaway goals and completed the hat trick by scoring the game-tying goal with 47 seconds left in regulation.

The Stars, who were led by a pair of Dalton Pearson goals, jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the first period and posted the go-ahead goal with only 90 seconds left in regulation. But whenever Soldotna appeared to take control, Belanger struck for the Knights.

“He’s got to show up for us to have a chance to win, and he showed up,” Smith said.

With the game tied at 2 late in the third, Pearson knocked a loose puck into the net with 1:31 left to give the Stars the 3-2 lead. With the Knights trailing with less than a minute left and goalie Forrest Savel pulled from the Colony net, the Knights were able to cash in with the extra attacker.

Junior Trevor Naylor sent a pass across the Soldotna defensive zone, and Belanger used a quick shot to put the puck in the upper shelf of the net.

The teams skated through eight minutes of a scoreless overtime frame to preserve the tie.

Zack Waters gave Soldotna the quick lead in the first period. Five minutes into regulation, Waters took a pass from Matt Silver and beat Savel with a shot from the left wing circle.

Five minutes later, Pearson took a pass from Josh Kerkvliet and used a quick move to beat Savel. That score gave the Stars the 2-0 lead.

“We had a couple of breakdowns,” Smith said of the Soldotna scores.

Belanger used his speed to create breakaway opportunities for his first two scores. Late in the first, Belanger won a face-off in the neutral zone, used his stick to poke the puck away from the defense and out-skated a pair of Stars toward the Soldotna net. Belanger capped the play for his first score of the game.

Later in the second, Belanger forced a turnover at the Soldotna blue line, and once again used his speed to score.

Overall, Smith said his team’s ability to consistently come back is what impressed him most.

“The one facet I am happier than anything about is just the growth,” Smith said. “When you get down, you’ve got to get back up. We did that tonight. We go down 2-0, grind it out to tie it at 2-2, go down 3-2 and tie it up. That shows a lot of character.”

Colony returns to the ice to host Kenai Central tonight at 5:15 at the Brett Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla. Soldotna stays in the Valley to face Wasilla tonight at 7 p.m. at the Menard.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Colony 3, Soldotna 3 OT

Thursday, Menard Arena

First period — 1. Soldotna- Waters (Silver, Endsley) 10:34; 2. Soldotna- Dal. Pearson (Kerkvliet, Stinnett) 5:05; 3. Colony- Belanger (unnasisted) 4:36.

Second period — 4. Colony- Belanger (unassisted) 3:48.

Third period — 5. Soldotna- Dal. Pearson (Kerkvliet, Stone) 1:31; 6. Colony- Belanger (Naylor, Tobin) 0:47.

Shots on goal: Soldotna 9-10-8-3—30, Colony 11-5-8-3—27; Saves: Soldotna- Daw. Pearson 10-4-7-3—24, Colony- Savel 7-10-7-3—27.