Warriors, Knights score semifinal hockey wins, will play for region title

WASILLA — With a pair of goals in the final four minutes of the second period, the Homer Mariners appeared to gain a little more steam. But the Wasilla Warriors answered, scoring four times during the final period to grab a 7-2 win over the Mariners during the North Star Conference semifinals at the Menard Arena in Wasilla Friday night.

“We responded well. We didn’t have a very good second period,” Wasilla head coach Trent Schachle said after the win. “The kids responded well to the pressure there.”

Kilil Sanarov scored twice during the final 3 minutes, 19 seconds of the second to cut Wasilla’s lead to 3-2.

“They’re a good team,” Schachle said of the Mariners. “They play together as a team really well.”

Blake Marks, Garrett Conroy, Austin Parks and Tyler Lutz all scored during the final 15 minutes to help Wasilla cement the win and set up an all-Valley North Star Conference final. The top-seeded Warriors play third-seeded Colony Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Menard. Both Wasilla and Colony earned state tournament berths with wins Friday.

Wasilla slipped a pair of shots from the point by sturdy Homer net minder Markian Polushkin late in the game, but battles near the net helped Wasilla create some space in the score earlier during the period.

“It wasn’t a 7-2 game. (Homer) played hard,” Schachle said. “They had guys forcing the puck all the time. We just got the bounces. We kept on working harder, and got the bounces.”

Early in the third, Marks knocked in the rebound of a Conroy shot to give Wasilla the 4-2 lead. About four minutes later, Conroy, parked at the doorstep, tipped a puck into the net.

Wasilla’s first two goals of the third, were similar to the first scores of the game.

Wasilla built an initial lead in the first. Captain Luke Schruf skated the puck up the left wing to the back boards, where he centered a pass to Marks. The pass allowed Marks to tap in the puck for a score.

About four minutes later, Alex Clark fed a short pass up the ice to Justin Bayliffe, who snuck a shot from between the circles into the net.

Conroy added to Wasilla’s lead, scoring 31 seconds into the second period.

Schachle said his team’s play around the Homer net was a key to the victory.

“We told them, you’ve got to be tougher around the net,” Schachle said.

Saranov, who netted the game-winner in the 2-1 overtime win over Soldotna in the semifinals, helped pull Homer back into the game late in the second period. With just more than three minutes left, Sanarov was awarded a penalty shot. The Homer captain responded by using a quick move to beat Wasilla senior Kiana Verplancke, and put the Mariners on the scoreboard.

About a minute later, after another Wasilla penalty, Sanarov snapped a wrister from the left wing circle on the power play to cut Wasilla’s lead to 3-2.

Third-seeded Colony moved into the final with a 4-2 win over Palmer, the No. 2 seed in the tournament.

Colony, which opened the tournament with a 5-0 win over Kenai Thursday, built a three-goal lead twice in the game. Otto Thiele struck first for the Knights, burying a short breakaway less than four minutes into the game.

The Knights also struck fast on the power play. Colony scored twice with the advantage during the second period, and both special teams tallies came about five seconds into a power play.

Early in the second period, right off the face off following a Palmer penalty, senior captain Logan Sanders sent a blast from the point. The puck took a hard bounce from the back boards to the crease of the Palmer goal. Shawn Mitchell knocked it in to give the Knights the 2-0 advantage. Seventeen seconds later, Palmer took another penalty. And again, right off the draw, the Knights were able to score. This time, Josh Boyer won the face-off, sending the puck back to Sanders. Sanders made the pass to Curtis Foster, who scored from the left wing circle.

Palmer got its first goal of the game on the power play late in the second period. With the advantage, Darren Fish moved between the circles, and slipped a pass forward to set up Chris Dojka’s score.

But 38 seconds later, Sanders scored for the Knights to push Colony’s lead to three goals once again.

Midway through the third period, after a Colony penalty, Palmer pulled goaltender Cody Grogan. The Moose used the extra attacker to create the 6-on-5 advantage. Even after the penalty expired, the Moose continued to use the extra attacker and keep their goalie on the bench for a long stretch in the first period. The Moose were able to parlay that into a Reagan Rice goal that cut Colony’s lead to 4-2.

Wasilla 7, Homer 2

NSC semifinals

Friday, Menard Arena

First period — 1. Wasilla- Marks (Schruf, Morrison) 9:15; 2. Wasilla- Bayliffe (Clark) 5:44.

Second period — 3. Wasilla- Conroy (C. Matson, Marks) 14;29; 4. Homer- Sanarov (penalty shot) 3:19; 5. Homer- Sanarov (Delahanty, C. Tillion) pp 2:15.

Third period — 6. Wasilla- Marks (Conroy) 9:29; 7. Wasilla- Conroy (Schruf) pp 4:58; 8. Wasilla- Parks (Butcher, Bayliffe) 4:17; 9. Wasilla- Lutz (unassisted) 4:02.

Shots on goal: Homer 8-9-8—25, Wasilla 9-13-15—37; Saves: Homer- Polushkin 7-12-11-30, Wasilla- Verplancke 8-7-8—23.

Colony 4, Palmer 2

NSC semifinals

Friday, Menard Arena

First period — 1. Colony- Thiele (Link) 11:15.

Second period — 2. Colony- Mitchell (Sanders) pp 9:17; 3. Colony- Foster (Sanders, Boyer) pp 8:55; 4. Palmer- Dojka (Fish, Myers) pp 3:04; 5. Colony- Sanders (Link, Thiele) 2:26.

Third period — 6. Palmer- Rice (Richards, Kiel) 1:39.

Shots on goal: Colony 17-12-4—33, Palmer 4-8-15—27; Saves: Colony- Diltz 4-7-14—25, Palmer- Grogan 16-9-4—29.