'Slaying the dragon': Knights stun South in 3rd OT

WASILLA — Most saw South Anchorage as the top team in Alaska entering the state tournament. The Colony Knights, in search of their first trip to the title game, probably figured they’d have to get by the Wolverines at some point if they had a shot at school history.

Maybe not on the first day of the tournament.

But that didn’t scare the Knights.

“Slaying the dragon right off the bat,” Colony senior Cooper Smith said moments after providing the dagger. “That was great.”

Smith scored the game-winning goal with 6:18 left in the third overtime to lift the Knights to a 5-4 win over South during the ASAA First National Cup Division I quarterfinals Thursday at the Menard Arena in Wasilla.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever had a triple-overtime game like that,” Smith said. “Our guys are grinders.”

Senior Foster Riekena led an odd-man rush and slipped a pass to his left, in front of the crease. Smith was there to bury the puck, and push the Knights into the semifinal round, where they will face Dimond Friday at 5 p.m.

“I knew he was coming to me,” Smith said of the Riekena pass. “We practice that every practice. I was fortunate enough to put it away.”

Riekena, a nearly lifelong teammate of Smith on the ice, said they have a knack for always knowing where each other is on the ice.

“We just have telepathy,” Riekena said.

Riekana said he was feeling exhausted as the Knights funneled into their locker room, but he knew his team wouldn’t quit.

“We’ll keep hitting. We’ll keep going. We’ll play five more overtimes,” Riekena said.

Colony head coach Jamie Smith said he had confidence in the ability of his senior leaders to find a way to get the job done, but also praised his entire squad.

“It was a whole team effort,” Jamie Smith said.

Smith also lauded his senior goaltender Cole Doss, who bounced back after a rough first two periods. After South scored with 12:38 left in regulation to tie the score at 4, Doss kept kept the Wolverines scoreless for more than 30 minutes. Twenty of his 36 saves came during the third period and the overtimes.

“Mentally tough,” Jamie Smith said of Doss. “He battled through.”

The wild win included two Colony goals within a seven-second span and another just before the second period buzzer.

With the Knights trailing 2-1, Cooper Smith beat a pair of defenders a buried a breakaway goal to tie the score at 2. Seven seconds later, Dane Jellich led an odd-man rush down the ice. Jellich moved the puck forward. Senior Jake Hessinger was on the left side of the net, and as South goalie Zane Anderson moved toward Hessinger the puck slid into an empty section of the goal.

At the tail end of the second frame, Colony’s Alexander Fike fired a slapshot from the blue line over the shoulder of Anderson just before the horn sounded. Riekana also scored in the win, netting an unassisted tally in the first that tied the game at 1.

Like Cooper, Jamie Smith said he didn’t really mind seeing South on the first day of the tournament.

“Our biggest thing was we’re going to have to slay that at some point,” Jamie Smith said of the Cook Inlet Conference champs. “I’d rather do it the first game so we’ve got some gas left. Get it out of the way.”

Now the Knights look ahead to the Lynx.

“Hopefully we’ve got some gas for tomorrow night,” Jamie Smith said.

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

Colony 5, South Anchorage 4

ASAA Division I quarterfinals

Thursday, Menard Arena

First period — 1. South- Jemmings (Yi, Bailey) 11:27; 2. Colony- Riekena (unassisted) 3:15.

Second period — 3. South- Fabeck (unassisted) 13:50; 4. Colony- Smith (Monaco) 8:39; 5. Colony- Jellich (unassisted) 8:32; 6. South- Fabek (Nelson) pp 2:13; 7. Colony- Fike (unassisted) :01.

Third period — 8. South- James (unassisted) 12:38.

First overtime — no scoring.

Second overtime — no scoring.

Third overtime — 9. Colony- Smith (Riekena) 6:18.

Shots on goal: Colony 5-7-5-1-1-4—23, South Saves: Colony- Doss 9-7-9-3-6-2—36, South- Anderson 4-4-x-x-x-x—8, Pavila x-x-5-1-1-3—10.