Warriors skate to crown

HOMER — Like most people watching Saturday’s North Star Conference championship game inside Homer’s chilly ice arena, Wasilla goalie Jacob Dargis was fighting a losing battle to stay warm midway through the second period.

“My hands were really cold,” Dargis said following Wasilla’s 3-2 comeback win over the Soldotna Stars.

Dargis was on the bench in favor of senior Jesse Hugli, who got the nod between the pipes for the afternoon showdown between the top two teams in the North Star Conference. And Hugli was playing well, stopping all nine shots he faced in the first period to help Wasilla take a 1-0 lead on a goal by sophomore Matthew Friese.

But after the Stars lit the lamp twice in a span of 24 seconds to take a 2-1 lead midway through the second, Dargis found himself on the hot seat, sent into the game to relieve Hugli by head coach Bill Sturdevant. With the Stars smelling blood in the water, Dargis was tested immediately.

“I got a couple shots right off the bat that got me going,” Dargis said.

The junior was perfect in relief, stopping every shot he faced over the final 22 minutes of the game to help lead an emotional Wasilla comeback that was capped by freshman forward Trent Wohlers’ game-winning goal with 3:25 left to play.

Sturdevant said the change had less to do with the play of Hugli and more with a desire to switch up the momentum.

“He’d made some great saves to that point in the game,” he said. “But we had to do something to regroup.”

While the goalie change was the most visible element of the Wasilla rally, the team’s players said it was a fiery pep talk by Wasilla’s three captains during the second intermission that turned the tide inside Homer’s sparse seaside arena, which is kept cold to prevent excess condensation from forming.

“They said some stuff that got us going,” Matthew Friese said.

Friese said seniors Adam Friese, Joe Barkley and Jordan Elkins got Wasilla in the right frame of mind heading into the final period.

“A lot of kids realized it was the third period, we’re down by one, and we need to pick it up,” he said.

Soldotna outshot Wasilla in the game and looked to be in control after getting back-to-back goals from Ben Christianson and Brad Duwe in the second period.

“I was panicking a little bit, that’s for sure,” Friese said.

Wasilla had lost to Soldotna last month in Wasilla, and Friese said the Warriors didn’t want to have a second consecutive defeat to Stars, the tournament’s No. 2 seed.

“We’d lost to them in our own barn, so everyone was fired up about that,” he said.

Friese scored on Wasilla’s only power play opportunity of the game, knocking the puck out of midair with 6:59 left in the third to even things up at 2-2. Wohlers then got the biggest goal of his short career on a shot that deflected past SoHi goalie Mike McGrath off a Soldotna defender.

“It was amazing,” the freshman said. “I scored and I couldn’t believe I’d scored. I was like, ‘Thank you, Lord.’ It was awesome.”

Wohlers said his goal was the result of Wasilla’s refusal to give up after Soldotna grabbed the lead.

“We worked all the way through the game. Just stayed with it, kept on pushing,” he said.

After Wasilla took the lead again, Dargis had to hold on in net as Soldotna tried desperately to get a game-tying goal. The Stars’ best chance in the final minutes came with just 45 seconds left, but Dargis came up with a tricky glove save on a deflected puck, lifting his glove hand high in the air in triumph as the whistle sounded.

The win means Wasilla will face defending state champion South Anchorage in next week’s state tournament at the Menard Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla. Wasilla lost to the Wolverines 2-1 in the only meeting between the two schools this season.

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth-@frontiersman.com.

WARRIORS 3, STARS 2

North Star Conference finals

Saturday, Homer Ice Arena

Soldotna 0 2 0 - 2

Wasilla 1 0 2 - 3

First period — 1. Wasilla, M. Friese (Johnston), 7:15. Penalties — Wasilla 1 for 2:00.

Second period — 2. Soldotna, Christianson (Glick, Duwe), 7:02; 3. Soldotna, Duwe (Markstrom), 7:26. Penalties — Soldotna 2 for 4:00; Wasilla 5 for 10:00.

Third period — 4. Wasilla, M. Friese (Barber), 8:01; 5. Wasilla, Wohlers (un.), 11:35. Penalties — Soldotna 3 for 6:00; Wasilla 2 for 4:00.

Shots on goal — Soldotna 9-13-9—31; Wasilla 6-7-15—28.

Goalies — Soldotna, McGrath (28 shots, 25 saves); Wasilla, Hugli (9 shots, 9 saves), Dargis (9 shots, 9 saves); Hugli and Dargis in second period (13 shots, 11 saves).

Note: saves were not broken down in second period for Wasilla goalies.