Palmer’s season cut one day short

WASILLA — Inevitably, every season comes to an end. Palmer’s simply fell one day short.

West Valley used three unanswered goals to beat Palmer 4-2 during the consolation semifinal round of the ASAA/First National Cup 4A state hockey championships at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena Friday morning.

The West Valley win kept the Wolfpack alive, but signaled the end of Palmer’s 2011-12 season.

Palmer finished 0-2 in the tourney, dropping a tough 2-1 loss to Service, which later advanced to the state final, before suffering the loss to the Wolfpack.

Palmer head coach Brad Hanson said Thursday night’s emotional loss to the Cougars, the 2011 state runner-up, led to a tough turnaround for the Moose, who were forced to play in the tournament’s 8 a.m. consolation semifinal. But the Moose weren’t going to make excuses.

Hanson said he was pleased with his team’s response to adversity.

“We worked hard. We didn’t take shifts off,” Hanson said. “We just couldn’t get the puck in the net this tournament, that happens.”

Palmer had a number of quality scoring chances during the loss to Service and posted 20 more shots against West Valley.

Hanson said the tough part is seeing the season of a hard-working team come to an end.

“It’s always going to come to an end. We have a good group of kids that basically started with this coaching staff. We’re going to miss them,” Hanson said of the senior class that includes Dalton Buness, Payton Staskywicz, Miles George, Brennan Harrison, Thomas Morino and Ivan Good. “They’ve worked their tails off over the course of four years.”

The senior class helped Palmer win back-to-back North Star Conference titles in the last two years.

“That’s a testament to four years of hard work,” Hanson said.

Palmer held a 2-1 lead after the first period Friday. West Valley earned the first lead, with Chris Nicolai’s goal at the 9:39 mark, but it took only two seconds for Palmer to answer. Right off the ensuing face-off at center ice, Good brought the puck down the ice and fed Buness with a center pass. Buness lifted the puck high into the net to tie the score at 1.

Harrison gave the Moose a lead late in the first, scoring with the advantage seconds into a Palmer power play. Good won the draw and dropped the puck back to Harrison, who fired it high into the net.

Eric Weber, Keegan O’Brien and Logan Henne added goals for the Wolfpack. Henne scored on an empty net with 22 seconds remaining.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him at twitter.com/matsu_sports.

West Valley 4, Palmer 2

ASAA/First National Cup

Friday, Menard Arena

First period — 1. West Valley- Nicolai (Hallston, Olson) 9:39; 2. Palmer- Buness (I. Good, Inukai) 9:37; 3. Palmer- Harrison (I. Good) pp 3:53.

Second period — 4. West Valley- Weber (Graves, Henne) 0:58.

Third period — 5. West Valley- O’Brien (Dixon) 12:26; 6. West Valley- Henne (unassisted) en 0:22.

Shots on goal: West Valley 12-8-8—28, Palmer 11-2-6—19; Saves: West Valley- Taylor 9-2-6--17, Palmer- A. Good 11-7-6—24