Palmer skates to wins over Soldotna, Kenai

The Palmer hockey team defeated Soldotna 7-1 on Friday in Northern Lights Conference action at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex.

The Stars topped Palmer 8-5 on Nov. 1 in nonconference play to back up a 4-3 overtime victory at the sports complex last season in the Division II state semifinal.

The Moose were not having it this time, winning the shot count 44-13.

Palmer won for the sixth straight time, including recent third-period comebacks against Juneau-Douglas and Colony. Tuesday, the Moose trailed the Knights 7-4 entering the third period only to win 10-7.

“We have really been focusing on playing three full periods of hockey,” Palmer head coach Rusty Belanger said. “We’ve had a couple games that have been a lot of fighting through adversity and having to persevere in the third period, and we’ve won them, but it’s not the way we want to get there.

“We want to come out fast and play three periods of rock-solid hockey, because we have the talent to do it.”

In the first period, Elijah Von Gunten got started on a four-point night with an unassisted goal, then Zidane Dietz put Palmer up 2-0 headed to the second period with a breakaway, short-handed tally.

Jacob Logan scored on the power play for Palmer to start the second period, but Soldotna cut it to 3-1 on a power play goal by Daniel Heath.

Palmer closed out the victory with four unanswered, starting on another unassisted Elijah Von Gunten goal to end the second period.

The third period saw goals from Peyton Neumann and Zander Anderson, and a short-handed goal from Neumann. Neumann didn’t play the last game against Soldotna because he was still with the swim program.

Belanger said freshman goalie Ryder Lawton also shined with 12 saves.

“I had an idea he would be one of the key pieces I needed for this game,” Belanger said. “And he proved it.”

Brycen Clyde made 37 saves for the Stars. They were not cheap ones. The Moose drove the puck to the net with traffic all night.

“This is what I’ve been looking for all year, or maybe the past three or four years, to see them all play,” Belanger said of the complete Friday effort of his team. “Now, the big challenge is, can they do it again?”

Palmer followed by defeating Kenai Central 4-1 on Saturday in Northern Lights Conference action at the Kenai Multi-Purpose Facility in Kenai.

“We feel good where we’re at,” Belanger after winning a seventh straight game to move to 10-3 overall and 4-0 in the league. “There’s the caveat of, don’t get there too quick.

“Don’t peak before the magic moment, right?”

Kenai, now 7-5 and 2-1, had not played since Nov. 23, but the Kards came out flying around. The Moose were still able to win the shot count 40-14 in improving to 2-0 against the Kards this season.

“They’re tough,” Kenai head coach Steve Hallam said. “Looking at where everyone’s sitting in the state right now, they’re one of the top teams.”

Palmer defenseman Zidane Dietz got started on a three-point night by scoring the lone goal of the first period.

Not only did Dietz get two goals and an assist, but he also was mostly responsible for tracking Kenai scoring threat Logan Mese around the ice.

“It’s fun to see those guys compete against each other, just kind of showcase Alaska hockey a little bit,” Hallam said.

Mese, assisted by Avery Martin, was able to draw the Kardinals even on the power play just 2:14 into the second period.

With 7:44 left in the second, Palmer answered with a power-play strike from Kinan Greco.

The Moose would score two more in the next 2:30 of the game — on strikes by Dietz and Jacob Logan — to put all the goals they would need on the board.

“Hats off to Kenai,” Belanger said. “I love them. They’re a gritty, gritty team, but you wear them down.

“We emphasize conditioning throughout the entire practice. We don’t do our drills slow or anything like that, which I’m not saying they do. But we have an entire team conditioned to outlast some of those down periods and get through it.”

Hallam said Palmer’s depth demands no letdowns.

“I think they have 16 or 17 on the roster,” he said. “Every single one of those guys is going to be good. They kind of showed it today.”

Hallam did like the way his team recovered.

“The third period, I thought we played great,” he said. “They came out and didn’t give up.

“They got back to some of the things that make Kenai hockey, Kenai hockey.”

Belanger said his squad’s execution was not where he’d like it for the second half of the third period. Still, it’s hard to complain with giving up two combined goals to SoHi and Kenai, and no goals on even strength.

Mily Christman saved 13 for the Moose.

“We have a good group of goaltenders,” Belanger said. “You’ve got to get a team to believe in their goaltenders. I think we’re there.”

Evyn Witt stopped 36 for the Kards.

“He’s stepping up huge midseason,” Hallam said of Witt. “He’s becoming a leader in the locker room. He’s keeping his composure and making amazing saves.”

In addition to the attacking duo of Mese and Martin, Hallam said defensemen Sawyer Vann and Cole Langham provided a physical presence all day.

“They have a lot of momentum right now,” Hallam said of the Moose. “We just have to get back to work.

“We know where they’re at. There’s things we can tweak and work on.”