Prep hockey: Palmer stuns Soldotna

PALMER — After Soldotna scored its second power-play goal within a 64-second span in the second period, it looked like potential disaster was ahead for the Palmer Moose.

But with a pair of unanswered goals and solid play in the defensive zone, the Moose came back to secure a 4-3 win over the Stars at the Palmer Ice Arena on Saturday.

After the Moose skated to an early 2-1 lead, Soldotna wingers Ben Christianson and Daniel Markstrom posted power-play goals just more than a minute apart to allow the Stars to take the lead.

And then came the Palmer comeback.

Palmer junior Michael Hanson scored the game-tying goal late in the second, freshman Jared Hanson posted the game-winner early in the third and sophomore goaltender Jonas Naegele stopped 40 Soldotna shots to lead the Moose to the North Star Conference victory.

“We were up 2-1, they get two power-play goals and go up 3-2, and the kids didn’t let down. They were mentally tough. They responded like they should of,” Palmer head coach Brad Hanson said after the win. “I think that was the most impressive thing I got out of this.”

With less than a minute remaining in the second period, Michael Hanson scored his second goal of the game to tie the game

at 3-3.

With the Moose skating on the power play, Michael Hanson knocked in the second of two rebounds of the pads of Soldotna goalie Michael McGrath.

Palmer freshman blueliner Nick Reeves took the first attempt, a shot from the point, and Jared Hanson took a stab at the puck while sitting in front of the Palmer net. Once the puck came loose for the second time, Michael Hanson was there to chip the shot into the Soldotna goal.

Both of Michael Hanson’s goals came on the power play. He gave the Moose a 2-1 lead midway through the first when he one-timed a Jared Hanson centering pass past McGrath.

“He’s a great finisher,” Jared Hanson said of his older brother. “I just try to get it to him.”

Jared Hanson scored the game-winner 1:26 into the third period, pulling off a nifty move in front of the Soldotna net.

Jared Hanson created the scoring chance by stealing the puck deep in the Soldotna zone. The freshman made a move to the left past a sliding Soldotna blueliner. The manuever caused McGrath to dive out of the crease. With McGrath flat on his stomach, Hanson moved back to the right and put the puck in the upper shelf of the net.

“I was thinking shoot, but the kid slid, so I didn’t really have anything else to do,” Jared Hanson said. “I kind of went with the flow.”

Once Palmer gained the one-goal lead, the story for the Moose was the play Palmer’s play on the defensive end of the ice, most notably Naegele.

“I thought our defense played really well, especially our goalie, Jonas Naegele,” Jared Hanson said.

Naegele recorded double digit saves in each period, and stopped all 18 of the shots he faced in the first and all 12 of the shots he saw in the third.

Naegele also helped the Moose kill three Soldotna power plays in the third period.

Although he faced 43 shots in the game, Naegele said the Palmer defense did a good job of not allowing him to be screened by the bigger Soldotna forwards, and many of the shots came from the blueline.

“It’s not so much about how many shots there were,” Naegele said. “But not seeing a lot of quality shots.”

Palmer forwad Zach Richards also stood out defensivley for the Moose, especially in crucial 5-on-3 situation late in the second period.

“We had a good all-around team game,” Naegele said.

Soldotna did the bulk of its damage within that 64-second span in the second period.

After both Michael Hanson and Jared Hanson were sent to the penalty box at the 7:30 mark of the second period, Soldotna earned their first of three 5-on-3 opporunities in the game.

The Stars immediatley capitilized when Christiansen knocked in a Brad Duwe pass to tie the score at 2-2.

Duwe, sitting at one circle, found and open lane and sent a quick pass to Christianson, who fired the puck on the far side of the net.

Just more than a minute later, Markstrom capped the tick-tac-toe play with a power-play score.

This time Christianson found a whole in the open zone, sent a quick pass across the ice to Duwe, who found Markstrom at the corner of the net.

Clayton Glick also registered an unassisted tally for Soldotna.

Reeves gave the Moose the 1-0 lead late in the first, when his soft wrist shot from just inside the blueline found its way past McGrath.

Palmer 4, Soldotna 3

Saturday, Palmer Ice Arena

First period — 1. Palmer- Reeves (Richards) 4:21.

Second period — 2. Soldotna- Glick (unassisted) 10:40, 3. Palmer- M. Hanson (J. Hanson, Richards) pp 8:06, 4. Soldotna- Christianson (Duwe) pp 7:09, 5. Soldotna- Markstrom (Duwe, Christianson) pp 6:13, 6. Palmer- M. Hanson (J. Hanson, Reeves) 00:59.

Third period — 7. Palmer- J. Hanson (unassisted) 13:34.

Shots on goal: Soldotna- 18-13-12—43, Palmer 11-5-5—21; Saves: Soldotna- McGrath 10-3-4—17, Palmer- Naegele 18-10-12—40; Power plays: Soldotna 2-for-6, Palmer 2-for-5; Penalties: Soldotna 6-for-20, Palmer 6-for-12.

Junior scores four in win over Homer

PALMER — Junior Michael Hanson scored four times to lead the Palmer Moose to a 6-2 win over the Homer Mariners at the Palmer Ice Arena on Friday.

Jared Hanson and Jesse Cassidy also scored for PHS.

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