Warriors hold Hawks attack

The Wasilla Warriors met the Houston Hawks Friday at Brett Memorial Ice Arena in a game that demonstrated how good goaltending can dominate play and win a game.

The outstanding goaltending of Wasilla's Nathan Banbury held off the Hawks' attack to enable the Warriors to keep a comfortable lead and skate away with a 6-3 victory.

"Nathan plays well for us; he is the backbone of our team," said Wasilla coach Wade Schachle. "He has a big role on this team and he does a good job carrying it."

The Hawks shot early and often on the Wasilla goal, outshooting the Warriors with 37 shots over three periods, but Banbury continually turned away the attempts to frustrate the Houston shooters.

Several Houston shots were directly on Banbury from breakaways or from Hawks' shooters coming free to make unabated attempts.

The Warriors scored the first goal just 37 seconds into the game when defenseman Spencer Syvertson sent a slap shot from the point that found the net before Hawks' goaltender Mike Barrett could react.

The goal gave Wasilla the early 1-0 lead and displayed a Hawks weakness that the Warriors would continue to exploit. Barrett would continue to have problems defending against the outside shot throughout the game.

The remainder of the first period was dominated by defense on both sides with neither team allowing the puck to stay in it zone long enough to set up good shots.

Offenses had more success in the second period, with shooters getting open to make good shots on goal.

Wasilla scored two goals from a Robby Velock wrist shot on a tough angle and a break away from Jamie Roberts, who bolted past the Hawks defense for a shorthanded goal.

Houston's continued attempts with shots on goal finally paid off with a score by Wade Williams with 3:10 remaining in the second period. Williams sent a shot at Banbury from the right side that appeared to hit off a Wasilla defenseman's stick and bounce in. The score cut the lead to 3-1 and put Houston in position for a comeback.

Houston put in two goals in the third period, one by Jake Williams set up by a good pass from Jimmy Estes, and another from Wade Williams returning a deflected shot to the net.

The Hawks, however, gave up three goals in the third period, all by the stick of Wasilla forward John Schmelz.

The first two goals from Schmelz came on outside shots from the middle that zipped past Barrett for goals.

The last Schmelz goal came with 31 seconds left and the Warriors leading 5-3. With the Houston goaltender off the ice to provide an extra Hawks attacker, Schmelz sent a shot from the corner of the Wasilla zone that bounced off the sideboards and slide the length of the ice unabated and into Houston's empty net.

The goal gave Wasilla the 6-3 win and earned Schmelz a hat trick with three goals.

"I couldn't make that shot to save my life last night in practice," said Schmelz. "I got wood on it and it went in tonight."

Behind the solid goaltending of Banbury, the Warriors looked strong on both sides of the ice.

"This is the first game that we played three good periods. I'm happy with that," said Schachle. "We fought through mistakes and got the job done."

In other games over the weekend, Palmer got a much-needed win by defeating Skyview 4-3 Friday at the Brett.

Colony was home for two games during the weekend, treating its visitors rudely by thrashing Homer 10-0 Friday then pummeling Skyview 15-1 Saturday.

Seth Reda posted three goals and three assists against Homer as the Knights put 66 shots on goal while allowing only four.

Reda upped the mark against Skyview, dumping in four straight goals against the Panthers. Nate Pokryfki added three goals in the game. Tommy Lehe was credited with four assists, and Matt Luthi added three.