Warriors clinch top seed in region hockey tourney with win over Moose

PALMER — Wasilla had to wait until the final weekend of the regular season, but the Warriors have locked up the top seed in the region tournament.

The Warriors clinched the No. 1 seed in the upcoming North Star Conference Championships Friday with a 5-0 win over rival Palmer at the MTA Events Center in Palmer. Junior Tanner Schachle bagged a pair of goals and freshman netminder Wyatt Monear earned the shutout to help Wasilla improve to 7-2-1 in NSC play. Wasilla ends the season tied with Colony, but holds the tiebreaker against the Knights.

“Our first goal was to be first in conference,” Wasilla head coach Trent Schachle said after the win.

Tanner Schachle scored both of his goals in the first period to help Wasilla grab the 2-0 lead.

“It’s a must-win game for us. It’s nice we got those two goals early,” the head coach said.

Seniors Troy Verplancke and Cooper Hanson, and junior Blake Carricaburu also scored for Wasilla.

The Warriors outshot Palmer 52-17 in the win. Palmer freshman goalie Cody Grogan finished with 47 saves, and stymied numerous quality scoring opportunities.

“Cody’s a good goalie. I thought he played good,” Schachle said.

Tanner Schachle gave Wasilla its first lead midway through the first. Senior Jack Reeves fed a pass to Schachle from the left wing, and Schachle sent a shot from between the circles into the upper right side of the Palmer net.

The junior gave the Warriors the 2-0 lead with 36 seconds left in the first. Senior captain Tyler Hansen pushed the puck into the Palmer defensive zone. Schachle raced past the Palmer defense to pick up the loose puck and slipped a shot by a diving Grogan.

Verplancke knocked in a rebound off a Luke Schruf shot on a Warrior power play with just more than 10 minutes left in the second period to give Wasilla the 3-0 lead. Wasilla tacked on a pair of goals in the third. Hanson scored on the power play early in the final frame, and Carricaburu ripped a shot from the point late in the game to round out the Warrior scoring.

Trent Schachle was pleased with his team locking up the No. 1 seed in the NSC tournament, which starts Thursday in Homer. But he wasn’t thrilled with his team’s 13 penalties in the contest.

“We had more intensity after the whistle than during the play,” Schachle said.

Palmer finished with 11 penalties. Both teams were tagged with four-minute double-minors at separate times during the second period.

Schachle said the Warriors can’t repeat that as Wasilla begins defense of its region title during the tournament.

“We have to keep our penalties down and focus on our game,” Schachle said.

Palmer will be the No. 6 seed in the tournament. The bracket will be released Monday. See the Tuesday edition of the Frontiersman for the tournament schedule.

Wasilla 5, Palmer 0

Friday, MTA Events Center

First period — 1. Wasilla- Schachle (Reeves, Cooley) 7:47, 2. Wasilla- Schachle (Hansen, Cook) 0:36.

Second period — 3. Wasilla- T. Verlpancke (Schruf, Apangalook) pp 10:11.

Third period — 4. Wasilla- Hanson (Cook) 12:43; 5. Wasilla- Carricaburu (Butcher) 1:53.

Shots on goal: Wasilla 20-16-16—52, Palmer 5-7-5—17; Saves: Wasilla- Monear 5-7-5—17, Palmer- Grogan 18-15-14—47.