Prep hockey: Knights battle in loss to Stars

WASILLA — Some losses are better than others.

The last time Colony faced Soldotna in a North Star Conference hockey game, the Stars clearly outshined the Knights, skating away with an easy 7-2 win in Soldotna. On Friday night, the second-place Stars again took a decision from the Knights, but this time Colony made them earn it.

“I thought we’ve improved a lot since the last time we played them,” Colony head coach Dale Mattson said following his team’s 6-3 loss at the Menard Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla.

Colony skated with the Stars all night, refusing to back down even when SoHi pulled out in front.

“We kept battling,” Mattson said.

Soldotna forward Clayton Glick was the difference-maker, netting two goals and assisting on three more for the Stars. Lance Nezaticky had a goal and an assist for Colony, while Blake Huppert picked up two assists.

Neither team could break through for a goal in the first 15 minutes, as both teams had good scoring chances thwarted by strong goaltending by Colony’s Charlie Holman and SoHi’s Stephen Kendrick, who got the start in place of Soldotna starter Mike McGrath. Holman finished with 22 saves for Colony, while Kendrick finished with 17.

The Stars had the best chance of the period during a long flurry of activity in front of the Colony net. But Holman came up with a couple clutch saves, then got a clutch assist from defenseman Chris Breck, who swatted a sure goal out of midair just before it entered the Colony net to preserve the scoreless tie.

Breck was penalized for holding at the end of the opening period, and after starting the period with the man advantage, the Stars wasted little time taking advantage.

Just one minute into the period, SoHi forward Daniel Markstrom hit Ben Christianson with a pass in between the circles and Christianson finished, ripping a one-timer past Holman to give the Stars a 1-0 lead. The goal was the first of two power play scores for the Stars.

“We took a couple penalties, gave them some opportunities on the power play and that made a difference,” Mattson said.

Colony evened the score midway through the period when Huppert held onto the puck in heavy traffic behind the net, then got free and whipped a perfect pass in front to Nezaticky, whose wrister beat Kendrick cleanly to tie the game.

Soldotna grabbed the lead for good when Glick and Brad Duwe hooked up on a perfect 2-on-1, with Duwe finishing the play by flipping the puck past Holman as the Colony goalie tried unsuccessfully to get back across his own goal.

SoHi was at it again less than two minutes later, taking a 3-1 lead on Sean Endsley's backhand poke off a rebound.

SoHi's two-goal lead lasted just 16 seconds, as Colony cut the deficit to 3-2 on a low shot by Chris Sawyer that slipped just between Kendrick 's left leg and the near post.

A mistake by the Knights led to SoHi's next goal, a shorthanded breakaway by Glick that started when two Colony players collided at their own blue line, allowing the Soldotna forward to get in all alone on Holman. Holman managed to tip the puck into the air but couldn't keep it from falling just across the goal line.

Mattson said the Stars are definitely a team that knows how to capitalize on mistakes.

“This is a team if you give them a chance they put a play together. They finish well,” he said.

SoHi's next goal came early in the third period, a power play tally by Markstrom that gave the Stars some breathing room.

Despite trailing by a trio of goals, Colony kept skating, picking up a power play of their own when defenseman Dominick Frank threw a knuckling puck past Kendrick from just inside the blue line to cut the lead to 5-3 with a little over ten minutes to play.

Colony would get no closer. With the Knights trying desperately to get back into the game, Glick finally finished things off with his second goal of the game, a shorthanded, empty-net strike with just 17 seconds left to play.

Mattson said he was pleased with the way his team played, and said that had the Knights been able to stay out of the box, the result could have been even better.

“Had we been able to play it a little more even I think the game would have been closer,” Mattson said.

KNIGHTS 3, STARS 5

Friday, Menard Memorial

Colony 0 2 1 — 3

SoHi 0 4 2 — 6

First period - none.

Second period - 1. Soldotna- Christianson (Markstrom, Glick), pp, 1:01; 2. Colony- Nezaticky (Huppert), 6:39; 3. Soldotna- Duwe (Glick), 9:28; 4. Soldotna- Endsley (Levanoff), 11:15; 5. Colony- Sawyer (Pulczinski), 11:31; 6. Soldotna- Glick (un), sh, 14:15.

Third period: 7. Soldotna- Markstrom (Glick), pp, 1:26; 8. Colony- Frank (Nezaticky, Huppert), pp, 4:20; 9. Soldotna- Glick (un), empty net, 14:43.

Penalties: Colony 5 for 10 minutes, Soldotna 6 for 12 minutes. Shots: Colony 9 4 8 — 21, Soldotna 6 12 10 — 28. Saves: Colony- Holman 6 8 8 — 22, Soldotna- Kendrick 9 2 7 — 18.

Knights edge Kardinals

WASILLA — Senior Blake Huppert scored a pair of goals to lead the Colony Knights to a 3-1 North Star Conference win over the Kenai Kardinals at the Curis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena on Saturday.

Huppert gave the Knights the 2-0 lead with a score midway through the second period, and added his second goal of the game early in the third.

Trevor Nickerson also scored for Colony.

Henrik Janefeldt scored the lone goal for Kenai.

Charlie Holman stopped 33 Kardinal shots and earned the win in the Colony net.

KNIGHTS 3, KARDINALS 1

Saturday, Menard Memorial Arena

Kenai 0-0-1—1

Colony 0-2-1—3

First period — no scoring.

Second period — 1. Colony- Nickerson (Breck, Gray) 1:42, 2. Colony- Huppert (Breck) 5:10.

Third period — 3. Kenai- Janefeldt (unassisted) 14:44, 4. Colony- Huppert (unassisted) 11:43.

Shots on goal: Kenai 11-9-13—33, Colony 14-10-8—33; Saves: Kenai- Barrett 14-8-7—29, Colony- Holman 11-9-12—32; Penalties: Kenai 10-for-20, Colony 10-for-28.

Contact Frontiersman sports reporter Matt Tunseth at matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com.