Warriors rally to beat Knights

WASILLA — It was another slow start for the Wasilla Warriors. And another big finish.

A night after scoring five unanswered goals in an 8-3 win over Palmer, Wasilla rallied for three goals during the final 10 minutes of play to earn a 4-3 win over Colony Friday night at the Brett Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla.

“Usually we’ve been doing pretty well in the first two periods, but the last couple games we came out a little soft in the first two periods,” Wasilla head coach Trent Schachle said after his team’s win.

Austin Stephens scored a pair of goals and Garrett Conroy notched the game-winner to help Wasilla grab the win, and cap the regular season 10-0-0 in North Star Conference play. The Knights, who finish the season 8-2-0 in conference play, had led 3-1 early in the third.

Stephens, a sophomore defenseman, gave the Warriors a spark, scoring twice in just less than two minutes.

“He’s done great,” Schachle said of Stephens. “He’s a great offensive player. He’s done really well for us down the stretch. He shoots hard. Low, hard pucks, creating a lot of offense from the shot from the point.”

Stephens scored a shorthanded goal for the second straight night, taking advantage of an odd-man rush. Alex Engan led the 2-on-1 rush, skating up the left side of the ice. Engan put a shot on goal. Stephens trailed the play, and was in the right position to knock in a rebound.

“I’ve been harping on the (defensemen) all year, jump in the play,” Schachle said.

That goal came at the 10:49 mark and cut Colony’s lead to 3-2. Just more than a minute later, Stephens tied the game with his second goal of the contest.

Conroy scored the game-winner with 5:40 left to play. The senior won a face-off in left wing circle of the Colony defensive zone, played the puck back to himself, skating in front of the crease and tucked a shot inside the right side of the net.

“He’s a senior kid. He’s ready to play,” Schachle said.

After finishing with 13 shots in the first two periods combined, Wasilla came through with 19 shots in the third.

“We just came out to play,” Schachle said of his team’s work in the final period. “We started working hard, started winning battles, started winning races to the puck.”

Wasilla and its junior goalie, Aaron Campbell, also had to withstand a final push. After late Wasilla penalties and with its goalie pulled, Colony had a 6-on-3 opportunity in the final seconds, but were not able to tie the game. Campbell made 28 saves, including nine in the third period.

Foster Riekena helped Colony grab a lead twice in the game. Riekena knocked in a loose puck midway through the first period to give the Knights the 1-0 lead. About two minutes after Conroy scored his first goal of the game to tie the contest at 1, Riekena added a power-play tally to give the Knights the lead back. Riekena, all alone between the circles, took a pass from Cooper Smith from the point and scored.

In the third, Tristan Avoletta gave the Knights a 3-1 lead before the Wasilla rally.

Both Wasilla and Colony own first-round byes in the North Star Conference Championships, which begin Thursday at the MTA Events Center in Palmer. Top-seeded Wasilla will play with Palmer or Kenai in the semifinals. The second-seeded Knights meet either Soldotna or Homer in the semis.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Wasilla 4, Colony 3

Friday, Brett Arena

First period — 1. Colony- Riekena (Smith, Ketchum) 6:29.

Second period — 2. Wasilla- Conroy (Stephens, Engan) 5:17; 3. Colony- Riekena (Smith, Thiele) pp 3:24.

Third period — 4. Colony- Avoletta (Evans, Ketchum) 12:37; 5. Wasilla- Stephens (Engan) 10:49 sh; 6. Wasilla- Stephens (Engan) 9:15; 7. Wasilla- Conroy (unassisted) 5:40.

Shots on goal: Colony 13-8-10—31, Wasilla 5-8-19—32; Saves: Colony- Gamez 5-7-16—28, Wasilla- Campbell 12-7-9—28.