Prep hockey: Goalie leads Stars past Warriors

WASILLA — Wasilla may have been able to bend the Soldotna back line, but for the first 40 minutes of play, the Warriors couldn’t break through Stars goaltender Michael McGrath.

Led by McGrath’s 33 saves, the Soldotna Stars scored a 4-1 win over Wasilla at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena on Thursday.

“It’s pretty big,” Soldotna head coach Kyle Howell said. “It’s been quite a few years since we beat Wasilla.”

The Soldotna win marked the second meeting of the season for the two teams that sit on the top of the North Star Conference. Wasilla skated off the ice of the Soldotna Sports Center with a 2-1 victory. To prepare for this game, Howell said, the Stars looked closely at the videotape from that game.

“We looked at the film, looked at their tendencies,” Howell said. “We found a couple things, and capitalized off them.”

Senior captain Clayton Glick scored twice in the win for Soldotna.

Glick gave the Stars the 1-0 lead midway through the first, when he flipped a puck high into the Wasilla net. Linemate Brad Duwe gave the Stars the two-goal advantage when he scored three minutes later.

“That first line of ours really worked hard tonight,” Howell said of the unit led by Glick.

Glick also scored an empty-netter in the third.

In the second period, Soldotna took the 3-0 lead when senior Timo Gleason put a high knuckler of a shot in the Warrior net from just inside the blueline.

McGrath and the Stars kept the Warriors scoreless until late in the third period when senior Ben Barber scored a shorthanded goal for Wasilla.

With Soldotna skating on the power play, senior Adam Friese grabbed the puck at the red line and skated toward the net with only one Soldotna defenseman back. Friese sent a behind-the-back pass to his younger brother Matthew, who put a shot on the Soldotna net. McGrath was forced to make a diving save on the Matthew Friese attempt, but the puck bounced to his right and left an open net for Barber.

The Warriors thought they had scored earlier in the period.

With Wasilla on the power play, Adam Friese drove the puck to the Wasilla net and put consecutive shots on goal. McGrath couldn’t handle the rebound, and Matthew Friese, trailing his older brother, tapped the free puck into the net.

As the Warriors celebrated, the officials had ruled the whistle had blown before the puck crossed the line.

The play of the penalty kill unit proved to be pivotal in the win for Soldotna, especially in a pair of 5-on-3 situations. The Warriors skated with the two-man advantage for 1 minute and 47 seconds early in the second, and again for 1:02 later in the period.

Howell credited the play of freshman Sean Endsley in both situations.

Soldotna 4, Wasilla 1

Thursday, Menard Memorial Arena

Soldotna 2-1-1—4

Wasilla 0-0-1—1

First period — 1. Soldotna- Glick (Duwe, Olson) 5:28, 2. Soldotna- Duwe (Markstrom) 2:02.

Second period — 3. Soldotna- Gleason (unassisted) 3:44.

Third period — 4. Wasilla- Barber (M. Friese, A. Friese) sh 3:22, 5. Soldotna- Glick (Markstrom) en 1:57.

Shots on goal: Soldotna 9-6-6—21, Wasilla 9-12-13—34; Saves: Soldotna- McGrath 9-12-12—33, Wasilla- Dargis 7-5-6—18.