Valley teams play plenty of hockey with doubleheaders

SOLDOTNA — It may be early in the season, but the Colony hockey team found some playoff intensity to record a thrilling come-from-behind win in the first of a Friday double-header at the Soldotna Sports Center.

Trailing 1-0, the Knights scored twice in the final five minutes of the third period — including the game-winner with 42 seconds left — to beat Soldotna 2-1 on the peninsula.

Jake Elwell got the tying goal with about five minutes left to play to tie the score, then with the teams looking to be heading to overtime, head coach Jamie Smith called a timeout with 1:04 left in the game. After the brief break, Logan Sanders netted what would prove to be the game-winner with 42 seconds left. SoHi pulled goalie Cody Harvey for the final seconds, but the Knights defense held.

“It was a good win,” Smith said by cellphone after the game.

Because the Knights were playing a doubleheader, Smith said they brought a large team and more kids got to play.

“We brought down 20 kids and we played our fourth line a little bit,” he said.

He credited a never-quit attitude and a willingness to work to the final whistle with the win.

“We called time out and set a play down there at the end, and it turned out good,” Smith said. “We moved Sanders out front, probably for the first time all year. It was a good win for our team and good for us to get a little momentum.”

While Elwell and Sanders scored the deciding late goals, Knights netminder Colton Bebe had a strong game as well, Smith said. Bebe finished with 17 saves on 18 shots. He also kept the score close so that the Knights could mount their comeback.

“He came up with two unbelievable saves right at the beginning of the third period,” Smith said. “If they would’ve scored there, it would’ve been game over.”

In their nightcap, Colony lost 3-2 to Kenai in a reversal of fortune. In that game, the Kardinals scored with 6:31 remaining to break a 2-2 tie and held on for the win.

In that game, Colony held a 2-1 lead after the first period, but Kenai tied the score early in the second.

Playing round-robin style, Palmer also had a doubleheader on the peninsula Friday. The Moose opened with a 7-1 loss to Kenai, then nearly gave SoHi to its second heartbreaker of the day in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Stars.

In that game, the Moose and Stars played to a 1-1 tie through the first two periods, but Kenai came out strong in the final stanza, scoring 24 seconds into the third for a 2-1 lead. It was a lead that wouldn’t last, however, as the Moose tied the score 2-2 and forced overtime.

In that overtime, Palmer started with 1:50 left on a power play, but couldn’t capitalize on the advantage. Later in overtime, though, it was Kenai scoring in the final seconds of a 5-on-3 advantage to notch the win, 3-2.

Wasilla 7, Homer 1

Also traveling to the peninsula this weekend were the Wasilla Warriors, who kicked off their trip with a strong 7-1 win at Homer.

What started out as a fairly close game — Wasilla led 1-0 after the first period and 2-1 after the second — turned into an offensive explosion in the third as the Warriors took control, said head coach Trent Schachle. Much of that was sparked by a 5-for-5 conversion on the power play.

“Our power play worked good,” he said. “That was nice to see, because we had been struggling to score goals on the power play. I think we had two in the Lathrop game, but besides that I think we’ve been struggling to get more than one per game.”

Cooper Hanson recorded a hat-trick for the Warriors in the win, while Tanner Schachle had two goals and an assist. Luke Schruf and Adam Apangalook rounded out the scoring with a goal each.

Wasilla finished its road trip Saturday with games against Soldotna and Kenai. Results of those games were unavailable at press time Saturday afternoon.

Contact Greg Johnson at 352-2269 or greg.johnson@frontiersman.com.