Senior scores in final seconds to lift Knights

WASILLA — After posting a modest five goals during his junior campaign, Colony senior Cy Eller leads his team with 14 tallies.

And none were bigger than the goal Eller scored Thursday night.

Eller tipped in a Caleb Hall shot with 2.3 seconds left in regulation to lift Colony to a 2-1 win over rival Wasilla at the Menard Arena in Wasilla.

“Pretty happy. Didn’t really know what to think,” Eller said of the moment he realized his goal had just given Colony the win during the final seconds of the game. “It was a close game. Wasilla’s a rival. It’s definitely good to get a win.”

As the final seconds ticked off the clock, Colony’s Jacob Kirsch moved the puck to Hall. At the center of the zone, high above the circles, Hall snapped a shot, and Eller got the deflection for the goal.

“He’s been like that all year. He’s been a Steady Eddie,” Colony head coach Jamie Smith said of Eller. “He’s provided a lot of leadership for us.”

On a night Eller was honored along with fellow seniors Jake Branch and Cooper McLaughlin, Eller was able to help Colony cap its regular season with a win.

“They give us everything they have,” Smith said of his seniors.

Sophomore Cooper Smith also scored to help the Knights improve to 7-2-1 in conference play, and clinch the No. 2 seed in the North Star Conference Championships, which start Feb. 4 in Soldotna. The second seed also gives Colony a first-round bye in the six-team tournament.

“It feels good to have a win going into regions next week,” Eller said.

The victory also snapped Colony’s four-game losing skid.

“We’ve played tough teams, and we haven’t been healthy,” Smith said of Colony’s recent stretch. “A lot of kids have been sick.”

Despite allowing an early Wasilla score, Colony outshot Wasilla 26-10 during the first two periods.

“We had a lot of energy,” Eller said. “Everybody was playing with a lot of energy.”

Wasilla jumped to a 1-0 lead midway through the first period. Freshman Alex Engen capped a Warrior rush by firing a shot from the left wing circle for the score. Cooper Smith scored with 4:47 left in the first period to tie the score at 1.

Eller’s late goal overshadowed Wasilla goaltender Zach Curry’s 30-save effort.

“He played unbelievable. It sucks to lose for him, but he’s come so far this year,” Wasilla assistant coach Ryder Conroy said of Curry.

Conroy said the message to the Warriors is learn, and move on.

“We’ve got some upset boys in there. It’s hard to go in that locker room,” Conroy said. “It’s about not making this more than it is. Just got to use it as experience, and don’t let it happen again.”

With the loss, Wasilla (6-3-0) is cemented into the No. 3 seed, regardless of what happens in its regular season finale, a road date against Palmer Saturday at 6 p.m. at the MTA Events Center. The Warriors could face either Homer (2-8-0) or Kenai (1-8-0) Feb. 4 in the first round of the NSC Championships. The winner of Wasilla’s first-round match will move on to face Colony Feb. 5 in the semifinals.

“If everything goes right, we’ll be seeing them again,” Conroy said of the Knights.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Colony 2, Wasilla 1

Thursday, Menard Arena

First period — 1. Wasilla- Engen (Tubbs, Stephens) 8:22; 2. Colony- Smith (Havel, Thiele) 4:47.

Second period — no scoring.

Third period — 3. Colony- Eller (C. Hall, Kirsch) 0:02.

Shots on goal: Wasilla 3-7-12—22, Colony 12-14-6—32; Saves: Wasilla- Curry 11-14-5—30, Colony- Diltz 2-7-12—21.