Prep hockey: Palmer rolls by host Homer in first round of tourney

HOMER — Palmer beat Homer 7-1 Thursday night to advance to the semifinals of the North Star Conference Tournament.

Now comes the hard part.

The win set up a showdown with the Soldotna Stars, a team Palmer split with in the regular season and the No. 2 seed in the tournament.

“We just had to get by Homer and now we have a chance to play Soldotna,” Palmer coach Brad Hanson said following the game.

While Friday's win was expected, Hanson said his team will need to be on the top of its game to have a shot at beating the Stars and advancing to next week's state tournament in Wasilla.

“We've got to play solid defense and take advantage of our scoring opportunities,” Hanson said. “And get a couple breaks.”

The breaks all went the way of the Moose against the Mariners. Palmer scored on its first shot of the game, the first of two scores by forward Dylan Danielowski. Palmer got goals from six different players in the game and outshot the Mariners by a 36-17 margin.

Moose goalie Sam McQuillin stopped 16 shots to pick up the win, getting beat only once on a shot that took a deflection off a Homer player's skate.

Homer goaltender Luke Eckert made 29 saves for the Mariners.

Also scoring goals for Palmer were Zack Richards, Jeremy Wright, Michael Hanson C.J. Watson and Jared Hanson.

Watson also had four assists for the Moose, which also got three helpers from Michael Hanson and two from Richards.

Palmer and SoHi will face off at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Homer Ice Arena.

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

MOOSE 7, MARINERS 1

North Star Conference quarterfinals

Thursday, Homer Ice Arena

Palmer 4 2 1 - 7

Homer 0 2 0 - 1

First period —1. Palmer Danielowski (J. Hanson, Ferguson), 13:36; 2. Palmer- Richards (M. Hanson, Danielowski), 9:53; 3. Palmer- Wright (Richards, Watson), 9:24; 4. Palmer- Danielowski (Watson, M. Hanson), :29

Second period — 5. Palmer- M. Hanson (Watson, No. 6), 4:48; 6. Palmer- Watson (M. Hanson, Richards), 4:20; 7. Homer- Pita (Merritt, Quance). :01.

Thrid period — 8. Palmer- J. Hanson (Danielowski, Perkins), 7:19

Penalties: Palmer 7 for 14 minutes, Homer 8 for 16 minutes. Shots: Palmer 13-10-13 - 36, Homer 7-4-6 - 17. Saves: Palmer- McQuillan 7-3-6 - 16, Homer- 9-8-12 - 29.