Warriors win twice during hockey road trip

FAIRBANKS — The Wasilla Warriors grabbed a pair of wins during their first major road trip of the 2014-15 prep hockey season.

Wasilla topped North Pole and Lathrop, before falling to West Valley during a three-day weekend trek through the Interior. Forward Russell Harren finished with a goal in each game and defenseman Layne Morrison had at least one assist in each game to help the Warriors improve to 2-3-1 on the young season.

Cody Butcher notched the hat trick Thursday to lead the Warriors to a 6-1 win over North Pole. Harren collected a goal and an assist against the Patriots. Blake Marks and Larson Tubbs also found the back of the net for Wasilla.

Zach Curry earned the win in the Warrior net.

The Warriors followed with a 3-0 win over Lathrop on Friday. After a scoreless first period, Austin Park scored to give Wasilla the lead early in the second. Harren and Luke Schruf added third-period tallies for the Warriors. Kiana Verplancke stopped all 12 shots she saw, to earn the shutout for Wasilla.

Saturday, West Valley struck twice during the final 2 minutes and 35 seconds of regulation to escape with a 6-4 victory over Wasilla. Powered by two goals in the first and another two in the second, West Valley entered the third period with a 4-1 lead.

Wasilla used a trio of third-period goals to tie the game. Butcher sparked the Warriors, scoring 34 seconds into the final period. Less than a minute later, Larsen Tubbs added another tally to cut West Valley’s lead to 4-3. Garrett Conroy scored at the 8:17 mark to tie the score at 4.

West Valley outshot Wasilla 52-26 in the win. Verplancke made 46 saves in the Wasilla net.

South 4, Palmer 2

ANCHORAGE — South Anchorage used an early lead to score a 4-2 win over the Palmer Moose in Anchorage Thursday.

South held a 4-0 lead over the Moose early in the third period. Taylor Foster put the Moose on the scoreboard, with a goal at the 11:51 mark of the third. Darren Fish added a goal with 2:20 left in regulation.

West Valley 6, Wasilla 4

Saturday, Fairbanks

First period — 1. West Valley- Rankin (Stickle, Moretz) 13:38; 2. West Valley- Arpino (Skorulski, Sadler) 13:15; 3. Wasilla- Harren (Whitlatch) 3:47.

Second period — 4. West Valley- Stickle (Skorulski) 5:39; 5. West Valley- Geil (DuPont, Bonar) 2:49.

Third period — 6. Wasilla- Butcher (Schruf) 14:26; 7. Wasilla- Tubbs (Morrison, Clark) 13:42; 8. Wasilla- Conroy (Park, Morrison) 8:17; 9. West Valley- Skoruski (Arpino) 2:35; 10. West Valley- Rankin (Stickle) 0:36.

Shots on goal: Wasilla 7-9-10—26, West Valley 11-23-18—52; Saves: Wasilla- Verplancke 9-21-16—46, West Valley- Simon 6-9-7—22.

Wasilla 3, Lathrop 0

Friday, Fairbanks

First period — no scoring.

Second period — 1. Wasilla- Park (Morrison, Tubbs) 10:50.

Third period — 2. Wasilla- Harren (Tubbs) 9:18; 3. Wasilla- Schruf (unassisted) 7:45.

Shots on goal: Wasilla 8-14-14—36, Lathrop 3-4-5—12; Saves: Wasilla- Verplancke 3-4-5—12, Lathrop- Grinal 8-13-12—33.

Wasilla 6, North Pole 1

Thursday, North Pole

First period — no scoring.

Second period — 1. Wasilla- Butcher (Park, Morrison) 8:35; 2. Wasilla- Tubbs (Harren) 6:52; 3. North Pole- Teel (Farey, Wilson) 5:02; 4. Wasilla- Butcher (unassisted) 2:23.

Third period — 5. Wasilla- Harren (Clark) 10:20; 6. Butcher (unassisted) 9:41; 7. Wasilla- Marks (Conroy) 8:17.

Shots on goal: Wasilla 10-9-6—25, North Pole 5-3-10—18; Saves: Wasilla- Curry 5-2-10—17; North Pole- Walker 10-6-3—19.

South 4, Palmer 2

Thursday, Anchorage

First period — 1. South- McSharry (unassisted) 0:31.

Second period — 2. South- Juliussen (Fabeck, Beloy) 11:10; 3. South- McSharry (Widmar) pp 0:01.

Third period — 4. South- Ashley (Matson, Heck) 13:15; 5. Palmer- Foster (Fish) 11:51; 6. Palmer- Fish (Foster) 2:20.

Shots on goal: Palmer 27, South 28.