Prep hockey: Moose earn big win over Warriors

Nov. 12, 2006

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

WASILLA - After Palmer's 5-1 loss Chugiak on Wednesday, Palmer assistant coach Norm Rousey said the Moose want to become a third-period hockey team.

On Friday the Moose showed they have the ability to win the third-period battles.

Palmer scored four goals in the final period and earned a 6-4 win over the Wasilla Warriors in the second round of the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Hockey Tournament in Wasilla.

Palmer head coach Dino Pagano knew his team's ability to persevere in the final period would be key.

&#8220We've been talking about that,” Pagano said. &#8220A lot of that is up to them. They knew if they had a close game like (this), they need to close the gap and get over the hump. And they did it.”

Dylan Schindele, Michael Hanson, Tyler Virgin and Dylan Danielowski each scored, and Zack Richards posted a pair of goals as Palmer beat a Valley opponent for the first time since 2002.

Adam Friese led Wasilla with two goals and an assist.

Palmer took a 2-1 lead with Schindele's goal midway through the second period, but Friese posted both the game-tying goal late in the second and Joe Barkley put in the go-ahead score midway through the third. Both could have sunk Palmer in the past.

&#8220This year, we stepped up and came back,” said Virgin, who scored on a breakaway in the third. &#8220This is a big win. This is our step up.”

In the final moments of the second period, Palmer went from possibly being up 3-1 to seeing the score tied at 2-2 - all within about 10 seconds.

As the clock ticked into the final minute of the period, Richards and senior Tyson Alger skated toward the Wasilla net on a 2-on-1 rush. Alger put the initial shot on goal, and Richards took a poke at the rebound. The puck got past Wasilla netminder Jake Dargis, but bounced back in front of the crease. With the Moose fans thinking Richards had scored, Wasilla's Harvey Finch raced the puck out of his defensive zone. He sent a pass to Friese, who stunned the Moose with a goal with 4.9 seconds on the clock.

Barkley posted a power-play tally, sneaking a shot off the inside of the pads of Palmer goaltender Jim Isaacs, midway through the third to give the Warriors the 3-2 lead.

But like they did after falling behind 1-0 early in the game, Palmer came back.- something the Moose may not have done in the past.

&#8220There have been a lot of times, (where) we'd get discouraged,” said Virgin, an assistant captain who has skated with the Moose for the last three seasons. &#8220We came back and didn't lose spirit.”

Hanson tied the game with a wrist shot on the power play, at the 8:11 mark. Just 62 seconds later Virgin scored on the breakaway.

With Wasilla holding the puck near the blueline, Virgin knocked it away with his stick, got possession and raced past the Wasilla defense. As he skated toward Dargis, Virgin made a move to the right, and sent a backhanded shot into the goal.

Palmer may not have played an extremely physical game, but aggressive play on the puck created multiple opportunities.

In the second period, Schindele took a Danielowski pass at the blueline and raced toward the Warrior net. Rather than skating all the way to the net, he stopped short, letting a Wasilla blueliner skate on by. The move created space, and he was able to score.

Richards also had a pair of quality breakaway opportunities. He tied the score at 1-1 in the second by crashing the net, and knocking in the rebound created by an Alger shot.

Random shots … Last season in the Menard Tourney Wasilla beat Palmer 20-2 … Wasilla out-shot the Moose 37-17 in the loss. Isaacs (33 saves) stopped 77 shots in his first two games of the Menard Tourney … Finch scored a shorthanded goal for Wasilla in the third period.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.