Palmer goalie leads Moose to win in season opener

PALMER — Cody Grogan found one heck of a way to start his senior season.

The Palmer goaltender made 43 saves to help lead the Moose to a 4-3 nonconference win over Service Tuesday in Anchorage.

“It’s huge,” first-year Palmer head coach Dean Wilson said of Grogan’s effort by cellphone earlier this week. “He’s got a lot of real estate he takes up back there in the net. He’s a big boy.”

Wilson said Grogan also teamed with the Palmer defenseman to prevent second-chance opportunities.

“He worked pretty well together with our defense. The defense didn’t give up any rebounds,” Wilson said. “He had good vision on most of the pucks.”

Service outshot Palmer 46-7 in the loss, but Wilson said the Moose took best advantage of their chances.

“We didn’t get many shots on net, but the opportunities we were getting were pretty high-percentage opportunities,” Wilson said. “We were able to capitalize on that.”

Another senior, Taylor Foster, provided the big goal for Palmer, scoring the go-ahead tally with 45 seconds left in regulation. Wilson said Foster, mainly a forward in his career, was helping out on defense. But the senior captain came through with the game-winner.

Noah Keil also scored a pair of goals for the Moose, and Jaron Ketterman netted the fist goal of his prep career.