Stars earn second 1-goal win of weekend

PALMER — As Soldotna skated into the locker room for the second intermission, the Stars held the slim 2-1 lead. But Soldotna was also tagged with a four-minute double-minor at the end of the period.

With Palmer set to start the third with a four-minute power play, the game could have gone either direction. But Soldotna killed the long penalty, converted a penalty shot during the final period and held on for a 3-2 North Star Conference win over the Moose Saturday at the MTA Events Center in Palmer.

“The four-minute penalty kill to start the third period that was successful for us, that was huge for us,” Soldotna head coach Aaron Swanson said after the win. “It really got things going for us.”

The roller coaster third period started with the Stars shorthanded, but Soldotna jumped to a 3-1 lead at the 12:46 mark of the period. Forward Nick Wrobel was awarded a penalty shot after he was pulled down near the Palmer goal. Wrobel snapped a shot from the inside edge of the left wing circle into the far side of the net.

The goal ended up as the insurance goal Soldotna needed. Palmer sophomore Hayden Moistner cut the Stars’ lead to one goal with 9:32 left in the period. Just moments after Palmer called a time out, sophomore Darren Fish sent a pass across the face of the crease to Moistner, who set a shot into the net from the bottom of the left wing circle.

Fish also helped give Palmer an early lead in the contest. After taking the puck from teammate Jarrett Johns, Fish crossed the blue line. Just behind the blue line, Fish was tripped up. He fell to the ice, but was able to reach out and get a pass to Josh Myers. Once Myers had the puck, he sent a quick wrist shot past Soldotna goalie Cody Harvey.

“That was a nice little play by their guy,” Swanson said.

The goal came just 30 seconds into regulation.

“It caught Cody off guard, it seemed like,” Swanson said.

Soldotna managed to tie the game late in the period. Defenseman Jake O’Lena knocked in the rebound off a Ty Fenton shot on the power play, with 2:23 left in the first period. Forward Kenny Griffen created the play, but walked the puck between the circles.

Griffen gave the Stars a lead in the second period, scoring at the 9:47 mark.

Soldotna outshot Palmer 34-19 in the win. Harvey made 17 saves. Freshman Cody Grogan stopped 31 shots for the Moose.

Soldotna finished 2-1 during its weekend trip through the Valley. The Stars fell to Colony 3-0 on Thursday and rebounded to beat defending conference champion Wasilla 3-2 in overtime on Friday. Swanson said the Stars hoped to take at least two of the three games in the Valley.

“That was our goal coming in for the weekend,” Swanson said. “We did it the hard way, losing the opening one. We’re happy to come back and get two wins after that.”

It was the second straight one-goal win for the Stars, and the second one-goal win over the Moose this season. Soldotna also beat Palmer 3-2 earlier this year.

“Night in, night out in this conference. Battles every night,” Swanson said.

Soldotna 3, Palmer 2

Saturday, MTA Events Center

First period — 1. Palmer- Myers (Fish, Johns) 14:30; 2. Soldotna- O’Lena (Fenton, Griffen) pp 2:23.

Second period — 2. Soldotna- Griffen (Wrobel) 9:47.

Third period — 3. Soldotna- Wrobel (penalty shot) 12:46; 4. Palmer- Moistner (Fish, Clements) 9:32.

Shots on goal: Soldotna 11-10-13—34, Palmer 4-8-7—19; Saves: Soldotna- Harvey 3-7-7—17, Palmer- Grogan 10-9-12—31.

Mariners get past Moose

PALMER — Sparked by a three-goal first period, Homer scored a 5-3 win over Palmer Friday at the MTA Events Center.

Homer added goals in the second and third periods to score their first win of the season over a Valley North Star Conference opponent.

Valary Dietz scored to put the Moose on the scoreboard in the second period. Chris Dojka and Hayden Moister added third-period goals for Palmer, which fell to 0-6-1 in conference play.

Homer outshot Palmer 36-28. Cody Grogan made 31 saves for Palmer.