Palmer skater scores 5 goals during state tourney win over Juneau-Douglas; Hawks also win in first round

Elijah Von Gunten used a monster night to help the Palmer Moose skate forward in the state pucks tourney.

Von Gunten scored five goals to lead the Moose to a 7-2 win over the Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears during the first round of ASAA/First National Cup Division II State Hockey Championships Thursday night at the Menard Arena in Wasilla.

Houston also won big, beating Monroe Catholic 8-1 earlier in the day. Both the Moose and the Hawks advanced to the state semifinals. In other action, Homer edged Soldotna 3-2 in overtime and North Pole upset second-seeded Kenai Central 1-0.

Top-seeded Houston will face fifth-seeded Homer Friday at 4 p.m. in the first semifinal. Third-seeded Palmer plays seventh-seeded North Pole at 7 in the other semifinal.

Von Gunten scored Palmer’s first three goals in the game, two in the first period and another in the second. He added two more during a six-minute span later in the second period. Matias Broughton and Kinan Greco also scored. Rhys Allen and Carter Greco finished with two assists each.

Palmer outshot Juneau 25-20. Joshua Horacek made 18 saves in the Palmer net.

Daniel Matveev notched the hat trick during Houston’s win over Monroe. Eric Preboski, Brody Richard, Phillip Kuzmin, Afanasy Elimov and Anfim Konev also scored.

Domnin Efimov and Shawnie Huber had two assists each.

Houston outshot Monroe 65-7.

Contact the Frontiersman at sports@frontiersman.com.