Valley teams skate in annual Palmer hockey tourney

A dozen teams competed in the annual Alaska Armed Forces Stars and Stripes Showdown Nov. 7-9 at the MTA Events Center in Palmer.

West Anchorage was crowned the champion following the three-day round-robin tourney that included four Valley programs.

The Houston Hawks finished 1-0-2 in the tournament.

The Hawks opened with a 4-4 tie against Soldotna. Zasim Konev scored the game-tying goal with 17 seconds left in the third period. This came about a minute after Sylis Hughes scored to give Soldotna a 4-3 lead. Konev led Houston with two goals and an assist in the tie. Owen Hunter also scored and Carter Cole added a shorthanded goal. SoHi outshot the Hawks 26-25.

The Hawks followed with a 6-1 victory over Juneau-Douglas. Domnin Efimov notched the hat trick for the Hawks. Daniel Matveev scored twice. Memphis Elliott added a goal. Ashton Vandersloot made 17 saves.

Houston capped its tournament with a 0-0 tie against South Anchorage. Dylan Shaffer made 36 saves.

Host Palmer was 1-2-0 in the tourney.

Palmer scored an 11-0 win over Kodiak. Nicholas McQuillin led Palmer with a hat trick. Kaleb Von Gunten and Jacob Logan each scored twice. Bryce Horacek, Kellen Kimeon, Cooper Frank and Lincoln Bosch also scored. Frank also had four assists.

South Anchorage skated to a 6-4 win over the Moose.

Wasilla was also 1-2-0.

The Warriors edged Kenai 2-1. Chase Malstrom scored on the power play and Simon Giani added a goal. Carson Branholm made 17 saves in the Wasilla net.

West Anchorage beat Wasilla 6-2. Robert Mikulecky and Kaleb Rehak scored for Wasilla.

Mikulecky and Rehak also scored during a 5-2 loss to North Pole.

Colony finished 0-2-1.

The Knights skated to a 3-3 tie with Juneau-Douglas. Logan Lofland, Jace Albers and Jaxon Allen scored for Colony.

West beat Colony 4-1. Allen scored the lone goal.

West Valley scored an 8-3 win over the Knights. Dane Joseph had a pair of power play goals for the Knights. Albers also scored.

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