Warriors, Moose finish 2-1 in Palmer hockey tourney

PALMER — A pair of Valley teams capped the three-day Alaska Army National Guard Stars and Stripes Showdown presented by Palmer High School. In the final game of the tourney, Wasilla scored a 6-3 win over the host Moose Saturday at the MTA Events Center in Palmer.

Dylan Harbour bagged the hat trick to lead the Warriors past the Moose. Colin Goff, Langston Bouma and Mason Mulneaux also scored for Wasilla. The Warriors jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first, and the Valley rivals combined for six goals during the second period.

Owen Hayes and Carter Greco scored during the first four minutes of the second period to cut Wasilla’s lead to 3-2. Harbour scored two of his three goals during the final five minutes of the middle frame to extend Wasilla’s lead. Zach Nelius added a shorthanded tally late in the second for the Moose.

Wasilla outshot Palmer 38-24 in the win. TJ O’Rourke made 32 saves for the Moose. Wasilla used a pair of goalies. Phillip Brevogel stopped all five shots he saw in the first. Ashley Engan played the final two periods in goal for the Warriors, and made 16 saves.

Both Wasilla and Palmer finished 2-1 in the tournament.

Wasilla earned its first win of the season Friday. Soldotna used a pair of quick scores to pull back to the game, but the Stars were not able to climb out of the hole. Wasilla posted a 4-2 win over Soldotna.

Wyatt Medcoff and Galen Brantley III each scored during a 75-second span early in the third period. With Wasilla leading 4-0, Medcoff found the back of the net to put the Stars on the scoreboard at the 10:43 mark of the third. Just more than a minute later, Brantley III recorded an unassisted tally.

Wasilla built a 4-0 lead during the first two periods. Sayer Sanders gave Wasilla a 1-0 advantage in the first. Troy Randall, Langston Bouma and Holden Wiltfong all scored in the second for Wasilla.

Dimond blanked Wasilla 4-0 on Thursday.

Nathan Hooks scored a pair of goals to lead the Palmer Moose to a 4-3 win over the West Valley Wolfpack. Jeremy Horacek and Owen Hayes also scored for Palmer. The Moose, who earned the Division II state title last season, jumped out to a 4-0 lead. West Valley jumped back into the game with a trio of third-period goals. Both squads finished with 26 shots on net.

Palmer opened its tournament with a 4-1 win over North Pole on Thursday. Horacek, Jack Matlock, Zach Nelius and Carter Greco scored for Palmer. The Moose outshot North Pole 46-15.

Colony finished 1-2 in the tournament. Colony skated on the power play with the extra attacker during the final moments of the third Friday, but Dimond held on for a 4-3 win over the Knights. Dimond led 2-0, but Colony scored twice during a 34-second span to knot the score at 2. Kaden Ketchum put the Knights on the scoreboard at the 5:23 mark of the second. David Moore followed with another quick score. Dane Jellich scored with 5:28 left in the game to tie the score at 3.

Dimond’s Tyler Christiansen scored the game-winner with 4:54 left to play.

Colony opened the tourney with a 3-1 victory over Kenai Thursday. Carson McLaughlin provided the game-winner, scoring early in the third. Tyler Keefe added a third-period goal. Gabriel Cappel scored in the first to give the Knights the early lead.

Soldotna beat Colony 4-1 Saturday. McLaughlin scored his team’s lone goal.

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