Warriors rebound with win on final day of Palmer hockey tourney

PALMER — After Ryan Gray turned away each of the 20 shots he faced in the first period, Wasilla was able to find a way to sneak a couple pucks past the Eagle River netminder in the second.

Wasilla scored both of its goals during the middle frame, and held on for a 2-1 win over the Wolves Saturday, during the final day of the Palmer Hockey Showdown at the MTA Events Center in Palmer.

Holden Wiltfong and Hayden Masterson each scored for the Warriors, who improved to 2-1 in the three-day, three-game, round-robin tournament. Wasilla outshot the Wolves 43-19 in the win, and 35-5 in the first two periods. Gray made 20 saves in the first and 15 in the second. Wasilla held Eagle River to just two shots in the first and three in the second.

Tucker Lien scored the lone goal for the Wolves.

Eagle River collected 14 of its 19 shots in the third period. Sean Carney finished with 18 saves for the Warriors.

Wasilla also played Monroe Catholic and Dimond in the tournament.

Thursday, during the opening day of the tournament, A pair of players enjoyed a couple of big periods and helped the Warriors get past upset-minded Monroe Catholic.

Porter Schachle and Langston Bouma combined to score Wasilla’s final five goals during a 7-4 win over Monroe, the defending small-schools state champion.

Schachle bagged a hat trick and Bouma added two goals as Wasilla improved to 1-0-2 overall. Trailing 3-2, Bouma tied the score at 3 with his goal late in the second. Schachle scored the first of his three with 20 seconds left in the middle frame.

Schachle scored again at the 9:23 mark of the third to provide the eventual game-winner.

Schachle and Bouma added goals within a 19-second span later in the period. Alex Engan and Hayden Masterson also scored for Wasilla. Aaron Campbell stopped 30 shots in the win.

Landon Bartels and Riley Ott each finished with a goal and an assist for the Rams.

Dimond took an early lead and held on for a 3-1 win over Wasilla during the Palmer hockey tournament Friday.

Alex Engan scored the lone goal for the Warriors. Jaiden Gibson provided the eventual game-winner, an unassisted tally for the Lynx in the first period.

Schachle and Brendan Woolcott were named all-tournament for the Warriors.

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

Wasilla 2, Eagle River 1

Palmer Hockey Showdown

Saturday, MTA Events Center

First period — no scoring.

Second period — 1. Wasilla- Wiltfong (Holler, Woolcott) 7:40; 2. Wasilla- Masterson (Matson) 3:26.

Third period — 3. Eagle River- Lien (unassisted) 5:25.

Shots on goal: Eagle River 2-3-14—19, Wasilla 20-15-8—43; Saves: Eagle River- Gray 20-13-8—41; Wasilla- Carney 2-3-13—18.

Dimond 3, Wasilla 1

Palmer Hockey Showdown

Friday, MTA Events Center

First period —1. Dimond- Hardy (Lubken, Hoey) 11:43; 2. DImond- Gibson (unassisted) 9:52.

Second period — no scoring.

Third period — 3. Wasilla- Engan (Schachle) 6:51; 4. Dimond- Miknich (Porter) 4:22.

Shots on goal: Dimond 10-9-10—29, Wasilla 5-14-10—29; Saves: Dimond- Driskell 5-14-9—28, Wasilla- Carney 8-9-9—26.