Stars stun Moose, deliver first loss of season to Palmer

PALMER —Before Soldotna even stepped on to the ice Saturday afternoon, it had already been a long weekend for the Stars.

On Thursday, despite scoring three power-play goals in the final period, Soldotna fell to the Wasilla Warriors 4-3. And on Friday, the Stars had to settle for a 1-1 tie with Colony.

But on Saturday, Soldotna was able to cap the three-day swing through the Mat-Su Valley on a positive note.

The Stars scored a pair of third-period goals en route to a 4-2 win over the Palmer Moose at the Palmer Ice Arena.

“We’ve been battling all weekend,” Soldotna head coach Aaron Swanson said. “Things were kind of coming together here and there. But things really came together a lot more for us today.”

Sophomore Josh Kerkvliet scored a pair of goals and junior goalie Dawson Pearson stopped 21 shots during the final two periods to help the Stars improve to 3-4-1 in North Star Conference play.

The Stars also handed Palmer (8-1) its first NSC loss of the season.

Kerkvliet scored on the power play to give Soldotna the 2-0 lead midway through the first period and added a second score with 6:35 left in regulation.

“He was working hard for us, but his linemates were working hard with him,” Swanson said. “He was on the receiving end of some nice plays by his teammates. He was in the right spot to put the puck in the net.”

Just 90 seconds after Matt Silver gave the Stars the early one-goal lead, Matt Fellman took advantage of a turnover in the Palmer defensive zone and set up Kerkvliet’s first goal of the game.

Skating on the power play, the Stars sent the puck deep into the zone. Palmer senior goaltender Jonas Naegele went behind the net to play the puck. The puck took an awkward bounce, and before Naegele — who got caught in traffic — could get back to the net, Fellman sent a quick pass to Kerkvliet, who buried a shot in an empty net.

Palmer rebounded with a pair of goals during a 68-second span late in the first period.

Miles George scored with 4:09 left to cut Soldotna’s lead in half. Ivan Good tied the game at the 3:01 mark.

“I thought we started out a little slow,” Palmer head coach Brad Hanson said. “It was nice to come back and tie it up.”

The play of center Piers LaFrance on the Palmer forecheck set up the first Moose goal of the game.

LaFrance created a turnover behind the Soldotna net, and sent a quick centering pass to George, who put the puck over the shoulder of Soldotna starter William Granger.

“That’s Piers’ game,” Hanson said. “He works hard and makes things happen.”

Good used a burst of speed and quick wrist shot to tie the game at 2-2.

With about three minutes left in the first, defenseman Thomas Morino got the puck in the neutral zone and chipped it forward. Good took the puck, sped across the blue line and through the Stars defense, and put a quick shot into the upper shelf of the net.

“That was obviously a huge momentum swing,” Swanson said. “Going up early and having Palmer battle back after that, we were in a dog fight at that point.”

Following a scoreless first period, Dalton Pearson gave the lead back to the Stars with a score at the 13:20 mark of the third.

Nick Pokryfki fed a pass in from the point, and Pearson fired a shot from the left circle to beat Naegele.

Kerkvliet iced the game for the Stars seven minutes later.

Granger, Soldotna’s starter in net, stopped nine of the 11 shots he faced in the first. Dawson Pearson replaced Granger in the second period, stopped all 21 of the Moose shots he saw.

Naegele recorded 34 saves in the loss, including 15 in the second period.

Soldotna 4, Palmer 2

Saturday, Palmer Ice Arena

First period — 1. Soldotna- Silver (Harvey) 9:53; 2. Soldotna- Kerkvliet (Fellman) pp 8:20; 3. Palmer- George (LaFrance) 4:09; 4. Palmer- Good (Morino) 3:01.

Second period — no scoring.

Third period — 5. Soldotna- Person (Pokryfki) 13:20; 6. Kerkvliet (Endsley, Harvey) 6:35.

Shots on goal: Soldotna 9-15-14—38, Palmer 11-13-8—32; Saves: Soldotna- Granger 9-x-x—9, Pearson 13-8—21, Palmer- Naegele 7-15-12—34; Power plays: Soldotna 1-for-6, Palmer 0-for-6.

Moose move

past Mariners

PALMER — Steven Acher netted a hat trick and led the Moose to a 6-2 win over the Homer Mariners at the Palmer Ice Arena on Friday.

Acher scored once in the first and twice during the second period of the win. Good added a pair of goals, and Morino also scored for the Moose.

Palmer 6, Homer 2

Friday, Palmer Ice Arena

First period — 1. Palmer- Acher (unassisted) 5:28; 2. Palmer- Good (Acher, Harrison) 4:44; 3. Palmer- Good (Acher) 1:20.

Second period — 4. Palmer- Acher (Good, George) 13:51; 5. Palmer- Morino (unassisted) 7:25; 6. Palmer- Acher (George, Morino) 0:48.

Thir d period — 7. Homer- McCarron (Stage, Duggar) 5:43; 8. Homer- Swanson (Stage, Lewis) 4:22.

Shots on goal: Homer 9-5-9—23, Palmer 14-11-6—31; Saves: Homer- Eckert 11-8-6—25, Palmer- Rauchenstein 9-5-3—17, Currain x-x-4—4; Penalties: Homer 6-for-12, Palmer 8-for-24.