Wrong direction

WASILLA — Sometimes, it's not the plays you make, but the ones you don't.

South Anchorage took advantage of several untimely Wasilla mistakes to earn a 4-2 win and a berth in the semifinals of the ASAA/First National Cup state hockey championships at the Menard Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla.

“What it came down to was we made three more mistakes than they did, and they capitalized,” Wasilla coach Bill Sturdevant said after the game.

Wasilla turnovers led to two of South's goals, and the Warriors converted just one power-play opportunity despite 13 South trips to the box.

South took a controversial lead late in the first period when the referee awarded a penalty shot after Wolverines forward Robb Haider was hooked on a breakaway by Wasilla defenseman Dylan Troisi. Although Haider was able to put a move on Wasilla netminder Jake Dargis and get the shot off, the 2007 Alaska prep player of the year was given the star treatment with the call — much to the chagrin of the Wasilla faithful.

Sturdevant didn't want to comment on the play, but South head coach Mike Ashley said he didn't believe a penalty shot was warranted.

“I wouldn't have called it,” Ashley said.

But a penalty was called, and Haider's ensuing penalty shot was a thing of beauty, as he put a quick deke on Dargis and then went top shelf to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission and setting off a chorus of boos from the pro-Wasilla crowd.

While he had nothing to say about the call itself, Sturdevant did note that the penalty shot was a big blow to his team, which had skated toe-to-toe with the Wolverines in the first period.

“It certainly changed the momentum for us,” he said.

South did its best to get the Warriors back into the game in the second, committing eight penalties, but Wasilla couldn't capitalize. Instead, it was the Wolverines who had the advantage — even with a man in the box — as South put two more on the board to stretch its lead to 3-0.

Sophomore Zack Miley struck first, beating Dargis off a nice feed from Ray Stenehjem on a play started on a Wasilla turnover.

Two minutes later, Haider stole the puck and netted his second shorthanded goal of the game, whipping a low shot that snuck just between Dargis' legs.

The Wasilla junior played well in net, stopping 29 of 33 South shots in the loss. South's Garrett Barr made 19 saves for the win.

Ashley said the large amount of penalties in the game — South was called for 13 infractions while Wasilla was whistled for 11 — may have actually served to slow down the Warriors, which have relied on a fast-paced offensive attack all season long.

“All those penalties may have taken away the home ice advantage,” he said. “There was no flow.”

Wasilla finally converted a power-play opportunity on the first shift of the third period when Adam Friese broke in on Barr and flipped a pass across the ice to younger brother Matthew Friese, who buried the puck to cut the lead to 3-1.

The Warriors then ignited the home crowd when Brian Turner finished a play started when Harvey Finch kept his own rebound alive in front of Barr. Turner was trailing the play, and when the puck squirted into the crease, the senior forward was able to shovel it into a wide-open net to make it 3-2 with more than nine minutes remaining.

Ashley said he wasn't surprised that the Warriors made a game of it late. Wasilla lost a tight 2-1 decision to the three-time defending state champs last month, and the South coach said this year's Warriors team has shown it can play with the elite hockey teams in Alaska.

“That's basically the big difference between and Anchorage team and a Valley team is depth, and they have depth,” Ashley said.

South withstood Wasilla's late charge, picking up some breathing room with 5:26 left when Raymond Redmond put a move on a Wasilla defender and beat Dargis from a tight angle to make it 4-2.

The win moved the Wolverines into a semifinal match-up against Chugiak, which humiliated the Wolverines 8-0 in the last meeting between the two squads. Ashley said his team will need to be at its best to keep its 10-game state tournament unbeaten streak alive.The Wolverines have never lost a state game in school history, but Ashely knows his team can't overlook the surging Mustangs.

“My guys are pretty dang sure they can get beat by Chugiak,” he said.

As for Wasilla, the Warriors must get up early today to face West Valley in the consolation semifinals in a game scheduled to begin at 10:15 a.m. Wasilla will need a win there to move into Saturday's fourth-place game and have a shot at the team's best finish at state this decade. Though Wasilla has reached the state tournament in five consecutive years, the Warriors have not finished higher than fifth.

Sturdevant said his team's mission in the tournament has always been to change that fact, and a good showing against West Valley will be essential to that goal.

“It's not a matter if we want to do it, we have to do it if we want to stay alive in this tournament,” Sturdevant.

For complete results from the first day of the tournament, see Page B8.

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

frontiersman.com

WOLVERINES 4, WARRIORS 2

ASAA 4A state hockey tournament

Thursday, Menard Memorial Arena

South 1 2 1 — 4

Wasilla 0 0 2 — 2

First period — 1. South- Haider (penalty shot), 0:27, sh

Second period — 2. South- Miley (Stenehjem), 7:51; 3. South- Haider (un), 5:33, sh

Third period — 4. Wasilla- M. Friese (A. Friese, Troisi), 14:44, pp; 5. Wasilla- Turner (Finch, Troisi), 9:14; 6. South- Redmond (Stenehjem), 5:26

Penalties: South 13 for 26:00, Wasilla 11 for 22:00. Shots: South 10-13-10 — 33, Wasilla 5-10-6 — 21. Saves: South- Barr 5-10-4 — 19, Wasilla- Dargis 9-11-9 — 29.