Prep hockey: Warriors, Knights win; Moose fall

WASILLA – The Soldotna Stars rallied to force overtime, but Wasilla prevailed.

Russell Harren scored the game-winning goal with 2 minutes and 30 seconds left in the extra period to lead Wasilla to a 4-3 overtime victory over Soldotna at the Brett Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla Thursday.

Larsen Tubbs set up the overtime winner that helped Wasilla improve to 1-1-1 in North Star Conference play.

The Warriors built a 2-0 lead in the game. Garrett Conroy scored with 22 seconds left in the first period to break the scoreless tie. Luke Schruf tallied a score 32 seconds into the second period to give Wasilla the 2-0 lead.

Soldotna’s Toma Johnson cut Wasilla’s lead in half with his goal late in the second period. Justin Miller and Clayton Longfellow added goals for Soldotna in the third. Longfellow scored with just 1:20 left in regulation to force overtime.

Wasilla outshot Soldotna 35-18 in the win. Billy Yoder made 31 saves for the Stars. Zach Curry earned the win for the Warriors in net, stopping 15 shots.

Soldotna’s three-day weekend in the Valley continues with a match against Palmer Friday at 7 p.m. at the MTA Events Center. Wasilla hosts Kenai Friday at 7 at the Brett.

Wasilla 4, Soldotna 3 OT

Thursday, Brett Arena

First period – 1. Wasilla- Conroy (Schruf, Matson) 0:22.

Second period – 2. Wasilla- Schruf (Conroy) 14:28; 3. Soldotna- Johnson (Brown, Longfellow) 5:39.

Third period – 4. Wasilla- Marks (unassisted) 12:40; 5. Soldotna- Miller (Nelson) 7:49; 6. Soldotna – Longfellow (Miller) 1:20.

Overtime – 7. Wasilla- Harren (Tubbs) 2:30.

Shots on goal: Soldotna 5-4-8-1—18, Wasilla 9-9-14-3--35; Saves: Soldotna- Yoder 8-9-12-2—31; Wasilla- Curry 5-3-6-1—15.

Knights blank Kards

WASILLA – Despite a stellar effort from Kenai netminder Nate O’Lena, Colony came away with a 4-0 win over the Kards Thursday night at the Menard Sports Center in Wasilla.

O’Lena finished with 40 saves in the Kenai loss. Colony outshot Kenai 44-5 in the win. Isaac Vincent led the Knights with a pair of goals. Jacob Link and Josh Boyer also scored for Colony, which improved to 1-0-1 in North Star Conference play.

Thanks in part to O’Lena, the game was scoreless through the first period, despite three power-play opportunities for the Knights. Colony also had a 5-on-3 advantage for a span of 1:18 midway through the period.

Vincent gave his team a quick lead in the second period. The forward scored 16 seconds into the middle frame. Link and Boyer also scored in the second period. Vincent added his second goal early in the third.

Homer gets past Palmer

PALMER – The Homer Mariners scored a pair of late goals to earn a 2-0 win over Palmer Thursday at the MTA Events Center in Palmer.

The Mariners notched both of their goals during the final 1 minutes, 18 seconds of play. Dawson Roberts gave the Mariners the 1-0 lead with 1:18 left, and Garrett Butcher added an empty-net goal with 12 seconds remaining.

Palmer outshot Homer 30-15 in the loss. Markan Polushkan made 30 saves to record the shutout for the Mariners. Palmer’s Cody Grogan stopped 14 of the 15 shots he saw.