Valley hockey teams a combined 7-2 during trip to Kenai Peninsula

SOLDOTNA — A big weekend for Mat-Su teams has left the top of the North Star Conference standings heavy with Valley squads.

Palmer (6-1-0 in conference play) jumped to the top of North Star ladder with three wins during a long trek through the Kenai Peninsula over the weekend. The Moose capped the trip with a 3-1 win over Kenai Central Saturday afternoon at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex. Darren Fish bagged a pair of goals for Palmer. Josh Meyers also scored in the victory.

Friday, the Moose survived a wild finish and scored a 4-3 win over Soldotna.

After a scoreless first period, Darren Fish gave the Moose a 1-0 lead with 14 minutes left in the second period. But Levi Hensley would score at the 11:40 mark for the Stars for a tie game.

Then came a crucial point in the game, when Palmer was able to kill a five-minute major.

Right after the penalty, Cole Clements, who was serving the penalty, scored with 3:35 left in the period for a 2-1 lead.

“That was huge,” Palmer coach Eric Troisi told the Peninsula Clarion after the win. “Cole Clements made a big play.”

With 5:37 left in the third period, Valary Dietz put the Moose up 3-1, but Soldotna answered at the 2:37 mark with an unassisted goal from Justice Miller.

However, at 1:53, Palmer went back up 4-2 when Chris Dojka lit the lamp.

Not done yet, and with goalie Billy Yoder pulled for the extra attacker, Soldotna’s Ty Fenton waited for Palmer goalie Cody Grogan to fall down and scored from a tough angle for a 4-3 game with 1:09 to play.

With 14 seconds left, SoHi earned a faceoff in the Palmer zone and SoHi coach Derek Urban called timeout.

The Stars won the faceoff and had several great chances in a scrum in front of the net.

“I jumped up and down thinking it was in several times,” Urban said.

The Stars had lost 8-2 to Palmer earlier in the season, and Urban said the game showed his team’s improvement.

Soldotna also is emerging from a midseason scoring slump.

“In the middle of the season, I think we were trying to be too fancy,” Urban said. “What we’ve been emphasizing with the boys in the last part of the seaosn is to put the puck on net.”

Yoder had 21 saves on 25 shots.

Troisi said the game was a little close for comfort after having a 4-2 lead late, but he gave credit to Soldotna for not giving up.

He also gave credit to Dietz and Matthew Bembenek for solid games. Grogan had 23 saves on 26 shots.

Palmer started its trip with a 3-0 win over Homer on Thursday.

Colony, which finished 2-1-0 during its three-day trip to the Peninsula, is now 5-1-1 in the North Star Standings.

The Knights scored a 5-0 win over Soldotna Saturday afternoon. The game was tight for two periods, but Colony blew it open with four goals in the third. Josh Boyer scored less than five minutes into the final frame to give the Knights the 2-0 lead. Three minutes later, Foster Riekena stretched Colony’s lead to three.

Jake Hessinger and Isaac Vincent each found the back of the net during the final 4:39 of regulation.

Colony outshot the Stars 41-19 in the game. Joey Ditlz stopped all 19 shots he faced, and earned the shutout in the Colony goal.

Friday, a late Colony rally fell short during a 6-5 loss to Homer in Homer.

The Mariners needed only about five minutes to build a 3-0 lead early in regulation, and pushed its advantage to 6-2 with three goals in the first seven minutes of the third period.

The Knights bounced back late in the game, scoring three times during the final 5:38 of play. Cade Havel scored for Colony to cut Homer’s lead to 6-3. Less than a minute later, Otto Thiele added a goal for the Knights. Shawn Mitchell pulled the Knights within a goal, scoring a the 1:57 mark. Cole Bloemer and Josh Boyer scored earlier in the game for Colony.

Kiril Sanarov notched the hat trick to lead the Mariners to the win. His first goal came in the first period, while his second and third tallies came within a one-minute span early in the third.

Robby Larson, Garrett Butcher and Clem Tillionalso scored for Homer. Colony outshot Homer 35-20 in the game.

Thursday, Colony earned a 5-0 win over Kenai. Vincent, Boyer, Jake Branch, Jacob Kirsch and Jacob Link scored for Colony.

Wasilla (5-2-1) sits just behind Colony in the North Star standings. The Warriors finished 2-1-0 over the weekend. Saturday, the Warriors blanked Homer 3-0 in Homer.

Wasilla did all of its damage offensively during the first period. Luke Schruf scored twice for Wasilla, getting both of his goals during a three-minute stretch. Braden Brunnhoelzl scored late in the period for Wasilla.

Kiana Verplancke stopped 18 Homer shots to earn the shutout.

The Warriors used a strong third period to come back from a two-goal deficit and top the Kardinals on Friday.

Kenai’s Dalton Dosko, on assists from Levi Mese and Cody Arbelovsky, had the lone goal of the first period.

Dosko then put the Kards up 2-0 in the second period, but Garrett Conroy cut the gap to 2-1 heading into the third period.

In the third period, Russell Harren, Schruf and Brunnhoelzl scored for the Warriors.

Verplanke made 11 saves for Wasilla, while Nate O’Lena had 34 saves for the Kards.

Wasilla’s long weekend started with a 6-2 loss to Soldotna.

SoHi’s Ty Fenton scored late in the first to give the Stars an early lead. Cameron Knowlton and Cole Nelson pushed Soldotna’s advantage to three goals by the midway mark of the second period. Fenton and Ethan Brown both struck in the third for SoHil.

Schruf and Brunnhoelzl scored for WHS.

With the Valley teams at the top of the standings, three Peninsula teams are locked in a cluster. With its win over Colony on Friday, Homer improved to 2-5-1 and the Mariners sit in fourth place. Homer is just ahead of Kenai (2-6-0).

Peninsula Clarion sports editor Jeff Helminiak contributed to this story.

Wasilla 3, Homer 0

Saturday, Homer

First period — 1. Wasilla- Schruf (Conroy) 9:41, 2. Wasilla- Schruf (Marks) 6:31, 3. Wasilla- Brunnhoelzl (Tubbs) 0:19.

Second period — no scoring.

Third period — no scoring.

Shots on goal: Wasilla 14-6-10--30, Homer 6-5-7--18, Saves: Wasilla- Verplancke 6-5-7--18, Homer Polushkin 11-6-10--27.

Colony 5, Soldotna 0

Saturday, Soldotna

First period — 1. Colony- Mitchell (Kempinski) 3:25.

Second period — no scoring.

Third period — 2. Colony- Boyer (Link, Smith) 10:15; 3. Colony- Riekena (Kempinski) 7:31; 4. Colony- Hessinger (Eller, Branch) 4:39; 5. Colony- Vincent (Boyer, Foster) 2:30.

Shots on goal: Colony 8-20-13--41, Soldotna 8-4-7--19; Saves: Colony- Diltz 8-4-7--19, Soldotna- Yoder 7-20-9--36.

Homer 6, Colony 5

Friday, Homer

First period — 1. Homer- Larson (Butcher) 14:45; 2. Homer- K. Sanarov (unassisted) 12:44; 3. Homer- Butcher (Larson, D. Kuzmin) 10:16; 4. Colony- Bloemer (Hessinger) 3:00.

Second period — 5. Colony- Boyer (Thiele) 3:34.

Third period — 6. Homer- K. Sanarov (unassisted) 10:18; 7. Homer- K. Sanarov (unassisted) 9:18; 8. Homer- Tillion (K. Sanarov) 8:33; 9. Colony- Havel (Foster) 5:38; 10. Colony- Thiele (Vincent) 4:50; 11. Colony- Mitchell (Eller, Boyer) 1:57.

Shots on goal: Colony 8-15-12--35, Homer 9-4-7--20; Saves: Colony- Diltz 6-x-x--6, Doss x-4-4--8, Homer- Polushkin 7-14-9--30.

Wasilla 4, Kenai 2

Friday, Soldotna

First period — 1. Kenai, Dosko (Mese, Arbelovsky), 3:39. Penalties — Wasilla 1 for 2:00; Kenai 1 for 2:00.

Second period — 2. Kenai, Dosko (un.), 10:29; 3. Wasilla, Conroy (Morrison, Schruf), 11:47. Penalties — Wasilla 1 for 2:00; Kenai 1 for 2:00.

Third period — 4. Wasilla, Harren (Tubbs, Brunnhoelzl), 1:19; 5. Wasilla, Schruf (Brunnhoelzl, Marks), 5:02; 6. Wasilla, Brunnhoelzl (Morrison), en, 14:25.

Shots on goal — Wasilla 11-12-15—38; Kenai 4-4-5—13.

Goalies — Wasilla, Verplancke (13 shots, 11 saves); Kenai, O’Lena (37 shots, 34 saves).

Palmer 4, Soldotna 3

Friday, Soldotna

First period — none. Penalties ¬— Palmer 3 for 6:00; Soldotna 2 for 4:00.

Second period — 1. Palmer, Fish (Savel, Foster), 1:00; 2. Soldotna, Hensley (un.), 3:20; 3. Palmer, Clements (Dietz), 11:22. Penalties — Palmer 2 for 7:00; Soldotna 1 for 2:00.

Third period — 4. Palmer, Dietz (Clements, Foster), 9:23; 5. Soldotna, Miller (un.), 12:25; 6. Palmer, Dojka (un.), 13:07; 7. Soldotna, Fenton (Miller, Lott), 13:51. Penalties — none.

Shots on goal — Palmer 6-11-8—25; Soldotna 8-6-12—26.

Goalies — Palmer, Grogan (26 shots, 23 saves); Soldotna, Yoder (25 shots, 21 saves).

Colony 5, Kenai 0

Thursday, Soldotna

1st period — 1. Colony, Vincent (Thiele, Eller), :17; 2. Colony, Kirsch (Riekena, Mitchell), 3:14. Penalties — Colony 2 for 4:00.

2nd period — 3. Colony, Link (Boyer, Thiele), PP, 14:52. Penalties — Colony 1 for 2:00; Kenai 1 for 2:00.

3rd period — 4. Colony, Boyer (Link), 2:40; 5. Colony, Branch (Bloemer, Hessinger), 5:14. Penalties — Colony 5 for 10:00; Kenai 1 for 2:00.

Shots — Kenai 5-5-3—13; Colony 21-15-15—51.

Goalies — Kenai, O’Lena (51 shots, 46 saves); Colony, Diltz (13 shots, 13 saves).

Palmer 3, Homer 0

Thursday, Homer

First period — 1. Palmer, Meyers (un.), 14:18. Penalties — none.

Second period — none. Penalties — Palmer 1 for 2:00.

Third period — 2. Palmer, Keil (Dietz), 7:06; 3. Palmer, Dojka (un.), 14:35. Penalties — Palmer 2 for 4:00; Homer 1 for 2:00.

Soldotna 6, Wasilla 2

Thursday, Soldotna

1st period — 1. Soldotna, Fenton (Hensley), 2:51. Penalties — none.

2nd period — 2. Soldotna, Knowlton (Witthus, Daugherty), 1:52; 3. Soldotna, Nelson (Endsley, Lott), 9:25; 4. Wasilla, Schruf (Conroy, Marks), 10:36; 5. Soldotna, Crandall (Nelson, Witthus), 12:53. Penalties — Soldotna 3 for 6:00.

3rd period — 6. Soldotna, Fenton (Miller, Hensley), PP, 1:43; 7. Wasilla, Brunnhoelzl (Park, Morrison), 8:25; 8. Soldotna, Brown (unassisted), 12:23. Penalties — Soldotna 1 for 2:00; Wasilla 1 for 2:00.

Shots — Soldotna 6-7-10—23; Wasilla 11-15-9—35.

Goalies — Soldotna, Yoder (35 shots, 33 saves); Wasilla, Verplancke (13 shots, 9 saves), Curry (10 shots, 8 saves).