Prep hockey: Knights surprise Warriors

JEREMIAH BARTZ/ Frontiersman sports editor

WASILLA - The Knights celebrated, and the Warriors stood stunned.

Not even three minutes into the first period, Wednesday, Wasilla found itself facing a two-goal deficit. Colony scored twice during a 66-second span, and rode the momentum to a 3-1 win over the Warriors.

Ryan Pauling scored two goals and Jake Graupmann added another, as the Knights took sole possession of first place in the North Star Conference with the win.

Graupmann, a forward on Colony's second line, beat Wasilla netminder Ronnie Walker just 1 minute, 24 seconds into the contest.

&#8220Our second line came out pretty hard and did a lot of good stuff for us,” Pauling said. &#8220They had a lot of good chances.”

Graupmann buried his first chance, on Colony's first shot of the game. Skating to the right of the net, Graupmann flipped the puck into the far side of the goal as Walker stretched the other direction.

Just more than a minute later, Pauling scored the first of his two goals in the game. As Pauling stood directly in front of Walker, Austin Manelick fed his linemate with the puck from back wall. Pauling smacked the puck into the lower left side of the net to give the Knights the two-goal advantage.

Colony head coach Dale Mattson said lately the Knights have found themselves skating off the ice and into the first intermission facing a significant deficit. Colony fell behind 3-0 early in a loss to Kenai. The Knights were behind 2-0 in the first period in a tie against Homer. Mattson didn't want this to be a trend as the Knights enter the final stretch of the season.

&#8220We've had a couple of slow starts. I made it a point to get them a little more mentally prepared, and get them to come out hard in the first like they do in the second and third, typically,” Mattson said. &#8220We got two goals right away. I think they realized how hard they've got to work right from the (start).”

Depth was a distinct difference as the two teams skated onto the ice.

&#8220We started out with 12 guys, and they've got four lines,” Pauling said. &#8220We've got two (lines) and occasionally a third. We just need to go out hard, because we know they've got four lines coming.”

Wasilla looked stunned as Colony put its second score on the board, but was able to put pressure on the Knight net, especially late in the first period.

&#8220Wasilla battled really hard there. I give them credit,” Mattson said. &#8220They worked hard, and had some opportunities.”

The Warriors posted many of their 11 shots in the second half of the first period, and had eight shots in the second. Jordan Ingalls put the Warriors on the board midway through the second. Sam Thomas slid the puck in front of the Knight net, and Ingalls took a swipe at the puck, putting the shot into the Colony goal.

Knight netminder Tyrel Henkel stopped 23 of the 24 shots he faced, while Walker recorded 24 saves.

Colony (10-4-1 overall, 6-1-1 in the North Star Conference) is in the middle of a three-day, three-game road trip to the Interior. The Knights faced North Pole last night, and see Lathrop today. Colony caps the trip with a match against West Valley at the Big Dipper Ice Arena in Fairbanks on Saturday.

Wasilla (9-6-2, 6-2-0) next faces Palmer on Tuesday.

Bartlett 4, Wasilla 3

Bartlett scored twice in the third period, and posted the game-winning goal with two minutes remaining in a 4-3 win over the Warriors at the Palmer Ice Arena on Tuesday.

Jeremiah Dargis scored a pair of goals for Wasilla. Joel Kenworthy posted a first-period score for the Warriors.