Warriors power past Kenai

WASILLA — There’s never too much time on the power play, unless you’re the one on the penalty kill.

During the final two periods Saturday, Kenai Central spent ample time skating shorthanded. Wasilla had eight power plays, held the two-man advantage three times and tallied four power play goals during a 4-1 North Star Conference win over the Kardinals at the Brett Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla.

Wasilla head coach Trent Schachle said it was a great opportunity to get his power play unit some extra work in game action.

“Even if we’re up, I like to run our No. 1 power play every time,” Schachle said after the win. “We need to practice it. You can’t be too good at it.”

And the unit produced, finishing 4 of 8 with the advantage, and factoring into each of the goals. The Wasilla special teams also helped the Warriors get past Kenai, despite the performance of Kenai goalie Joshua Tree.

Tree didn’t allow an even strength goal, and stopped 49 of Wasilla’s 53 shots.

“He played really well,” Schachle said of Tree. “That’s a lot of saves.”

Alex Engan led the Warriors with a pair of power play goals in the win. Porter Schachle was a part of every goal, bagging a goal and three assists. Hayden Masterson also had a pair of assists in the win.

Levi Mese, who scored for the third straight day in the Valley, posted Kenai’s lone goal.

The teams combined for 22 shots during a scoreless first period. Porter Schachle gave the Warriors their first lead of the game, scoring seconds into a power play at the 4:53 mark of the second period. Just more than two minutes later, Engan fired a puck from the right wing circle to grab his first goal of the game.

Mese cut Wasilla’s lead in half early in the third. The winger raced up the right side of the ice, and snapped a wrister from the outside edge of the right wing circle. Engan pushed his team’s lead back to a pair with his second power play goal midway through the third. Dillon Matson added a goal late in the period.

Engan’s second goal and Matson’s score both came with the Warriors skating 5-on-3.

Wasilla outshot Kenai 19-1 in the second period, and 41-9 during the final two periods.

Sean Carney made 18 saves in the win.

Wasilla, now 6-2 in the North Star Conference, finished its weekend 3-0 against its Peninsula foes, outscoring them 14-2. Kenai, now 1-7-0, dropped three straight in the Valley, including a 5-4 overtime loss to Palmer on Friday.

Knights win again

Tae’jean Evans bagged a hat trick to lead Colony to a 6-1 win over Soldotna Saturday afternoon at the Menard Arena in Wasilla.

With three conference wins during the weekend, Colony now sits alone at the top of the standings with a 7-1-0 record. Soldotna, 0-3-0 this weekend, is now 1-7-0.

Moose fall to Homer

Ethan Pitzman scored a pair of unassisted goals in the third period to lead Homer to a 4-0 NSC win over Palmer Saturday at the MTA Events Center in Palmer.

Pitzman also bagged an assist in the second period to help the Mariners rebound from back-to-back losses in the Valley. Dimitry Kuzmin and Spencer Warren also scored. Hunter Warren recorded the 10-save shutout.

TJ O’Rourke made 25 saves for the Moose.

Homer, now 6-2-0 in conference play, finished 1-2-0 during its three days in the Valley. Palmer, 1-2-0 during the weekend, is now 3-5-0 in NSC play.

Wasilla 4, Kenai Central 1

Saturday, Brett Memorial Ice Arena

First period — no scoring

Second period — 1. Wasilla- P. Schachle (unassisted) pp 4:53; 2. Wasilla- Engan (Masterson, Schachle) pp 2:15.

Third period — 3. Kenai- Mese (unassisted) 13:51; 4. Wasilla- Engan (P. Schachle) pp 8:17; 5. Wasilla- Matson (P. Schachle, Masterson) pp 5:25.

Shots on goal: Kenai 10-1-8—19, Wasilla 12-19-22—53; Saves: Kenai- Tree 12-17-20—49, Wasilla- S. Carney 10-1-7—18.

Homer 4, Palmer 0

Saturday, MTA Events Center

First period — no scoring.

Second period — 1. Homer- Kuzmin (S. Warren, Pitzman) 10:25; 2. Homer- S. Warren (Kuzmin) 1:22.

Third period — 3. Homer- Pitzman (unassisted) 14:39; 4. Homer- Pitzman (unassisted) 10:05.

Shots on goal: Homer 7-15-7—29, Palmer 2-3-5—10; Saves: Homer- H. Warren 2-3-5—10; Palmer- O’Rourke 7-13-5—25.