Wasilla upsets two-time defending state hockey champions

WASILLA — When facing the state prep hockey powers from Anchorage, Valley teams are typically seen as the underdog. But squads from the Cook Inlet may have to pay more attention to the Wasilla Warriors.

Powered by junior Tanner Schachle’s two goals and freshman Wyatt Monear’s 22 saves, Wasilla upended two-time defending state champion Dimond Tuesday night, beating the Lynx 3-2 at the Brett Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla.

“It’s a huge deal for us,” Wasilla senior captain Tyler Hansen said of the win. “Now, we’re going to have a huge target on our back. We’ve got to play every game like this one, with a lot of heart. We can’t take any game off now.”

The win marked Wasilla’s fourth victory over a 2013 state tournament team during the first three weeks of the new season. The Warriors have already beat the top three teams from the 2013 state championships — defending champ Dimond, runner-up South Anchorage and third-place West Anchorage. Wasilla (5-1, 1-0) also beat Lathrop last week, another 2013 state tourney team.

It’s also the first time that any Warrior currently on the roster has beaten Dimond.

“It takes mental focus,” Hansen said of beating teams like Dimond and South.

Wasilla’s lone blemish on its 2013-14 mark is a 2-1 loss to Service in Anchorage last week. The Cougars finished in a third-place tie with West at the state tourney last year.

“We didn’t come out and play against Service like we played today,” Hansen said.

Wasilla first-year head coach Trent Schachle said his team may have overlooked the Cougars, but were ready to play Dimond Tuesday.

“We were looking forward to this game. We thought we were just going to walk all over Service, and that wasn’t the case, obviously,” Schachle said. “Everybody was looking forward to playing Dimond.”

Wasilla’s win also spoiled the return of former Palmer High standout goalie Ashton Good to the Valley. Good, who backstopped the Moose for three seasons and helped Palmer win conference titles in 2011 and 2012, is now Dimond’s senior starter between the pipes.

Wasilla and Dimond nearly skated into the intermission scoreless, but Schachle scored the first of his two goals with 23 seconds left in the first.

“That was a big lift,” Trent Schachle said.

Cooper Hanson started the scoring play for the Warriors, picking up a loose puck along the right wing boards. Hanson flipped the puck back to defenseman Blake Carricaburu at the right point. Carricaburu shifted a pass to fellow blueliner Andrew Cooley.

Cooley sent the puck from the left point. Schachle deflected it at the left wing circle, and the puck trickled past Good into the far bottom corner of the net, just inside the post.

“It was a huge deal to get the first goal,” Hansen said. “We haven’t been behind. The one game we were behind in a game, we lost.”

Schachle struck again early in the second. The Warriors pushed the puck up the right wing, and Hanson sent a sharp pass across the face of the crease to Schachle, who tapped the puck home from his spot on the left side of the Lynx goal.

“We moved the puck well,” Trent Schachle said. “We forechecked hard, played the body good. I thought we played hard, with the intensity we have to have.”

Wasilla added a power play goal in the third. Skating with the 5-on-3 advantage, and holding on to a 2-1 lead, defenseman Andrew Cooley sent a shot from the top of the right wing circle past Good, into the net.

Cooley, fresh off a five-point day (goal, four assists) against Lathrop, bagged another goal and an assist Tuesday. Defensemen Blake Carricaburu and Austin Cook, and forwards Cooper Hanson and Jack Reeves also collected assists. Cooley and Carricaburu have combined to collect nine assists in the last two games.

Hansen, the captain of the blueline, said the offensive production from his fellow defensemen has been a big part to Wasilla’s early success.

“We need to play our game, keep moving our feet, making quick passes, get the puck out. It all starts with us,” Hansen said.

Dimond cut into Wasilla’s lead with Aiden Teilborg’s power play goal just less than five minutes into the third period. Drake Glover managed to slip a puck into the Wasilla net during the final second of regulation.

Wasilla is back on the ice Friday to host rival Palmer at 7 p.m. at the Brett Arena.

Wasilla 3, Dimond 2

Tuesday, Brett Arena

First period — 1. Wasilla- Schachle (Cooley, Carricaburu) 0:23.

Second period — 2. Wasilla- Schachle (Hanson) 13:57.

Third period — 3. Dimond- Teilborg (Hamilton, Garris) pp 10:11; 4. Wasilla- Cooley (Reeves, Cook) pp 8:43; 5. Dimond- Glover (Conley) 00:01.

Shots on goal: Dimond 9-7-8—24, Wasilla 8-9-11—28; Saves: Dimond- Good 7-8-10—25, Wasilla- Monear 9-7-6—22.