Seniors lead Moose to hockey win over Warriors

PALMER — With the seeding already set for the upcoming North Star Conference Championships, some may argue there was little to play for when Palmer hosted Wasilla in the regular season finale Saturday night.

Don’t tell that to the Moose or the Warriors.

Palmer held on to post a 3-2 victory over rival Wasilla in a spirited contest at the MTA Events Center in Palmer.

“It’s a rivalry. The kids are fired up. Both teams want to win,” Palmer head coach Jeff Varvil said after the victory.

With the win, Palmer capped its regular season 9-0-1 in conference play. The Moose are the top seed in the NSC Championships, which start Thursday in Soldotna. Wasilla, the third seed in the NSC, dropped to 6-4-0. The top three seeds in the tournament were decided long before the puck dropped Saturday. Last week, Palmer clinched the No. 1 seed with a 3-1 win over Colony. Last Thursday, Colony clinched No. 2 with a 2-1 win over Wasilla.

With the seeds already set, Varvil admitted decisions had to be made before the contest. Varvil sat much of his top talent, and his starting goaltender, during a nonconference loss to Houston earlier in the week.. Would he do it again?

“That was a hard decision for me, really a conundrum. Do you risk an injury to one of your (top seven or eight players) in a meaningless game? Define meaningless,” Varvil said.

But ultimately there was plenty to play for.

“For me, it was important to keep our momentum, and the other thing, it was senior night. Finishing the season 9-0-1 was also important to us,” Varvil said.

Varvil said skating into the region tournament after a win is a big deal for the Moose.

“I think especially hockey teams need momentum. Carrying that momentum into the playoffs, I think, is huge for us,” Varvil said.

Seniors Nathaniel Savel, Bowen Webb and Darren Fish each scored within a three-minute stretch early in the second period to help the Moose grab the win.

“That senior leadership that we’ve been talking about all year,” Varvil said.

With the Moose trailing 1-0, Fish drove up the right wing, put a shot on net, and Savel was able to finish at the back door. The score came only 44 seconds into the second period. A mere 31 seconds later, senior Chris Dojka wheeled up the right side and put a shot on goal. Webb was there to knock in the rebound. At the 11:34 mark, Fish added to the scoring, redirecting a Savel pass over the shoulder of Wasilla goaltender Zach Curry.

“I thought we played real tight in the first period. Our senior leadership came through, settled the guys down. We started making easy plays again, and our first line did what our first line does,” Varvil said.

Wasilla senior captain Larsen Tubbs put the Warriors on the scoreboard early. Tubbs took the puck from Alex Engan, raced up the ice, beat the Moose defense and fired a puck from the left wing circle into the net.

Engan cut into Palmer’s lead late. With about seven minutes left in the third period, Engan scored on the power play to slice the Moose lead to 3-2.

It was the second tough loss to a Valley rival in three days for the Warriors. Thursday, Colony scored with 2.3 seconds left in regulation to slip past the Warriors 2-1. Curry followed his 30-save effort on Thursday with 24 saves against the Moose.

Cody Grogan made 28 saves for Palmer.

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

Palmer 3, Wasilla 2

Saturday, MTA Events Center

First period — 1. Wasilla- Tubbs (Engan) 9:59.

Second period — 2. Palmer- Savel (Fish, Meyers) 14:16; 3. Palmer- Webb (Dojka, Savel) 13:45; 4. Palmer- Fish (Savel) 9:04.

Third period — 5. Wasilla- Engan (Tubbs, Lutz) pp 7:07.

Shots on goal: Wasilla 10-10-10—30, Palmer 7-11-9—27; Saves: Wasilla- Curry 7-8-9—24, Palmer- Grogan 9-10-9—28.