Sports

Prep hockey round-up: Service downs South to move to 10-0

Service skated into Saturday's showdown against South looking to stake its claim as Alaska's best team. The Cougars left Ben Boeke with little left to prove.

Luke Carlson scored the game-winning goal with 7:22 left in the third period and the Cougars added a pair of late tallies to ice a 4-1 Cook Inlet Conference win over South in front of a packed Ben Boeke Arena crowd.

"That was a hell of a game today," said Service coach Joel Carter.

The final score wasn't a good indication of the game's competitiveness. Service (10-0) led 1-0 through the first two periods thanks to a goal by Brad Kuper with 45 seconds left in the first but didn't pull away until the closing minutes.

Service goalie Ronan Klancher and South's Jeremy Swayman matched each other save for save through the first two periods as both teams produced solid goal-scoring chances.

"It was kind of like a boxing match," Carter said. "Back and forth."

South (6-3) evened the game with 12:29 left when Noah Ashley found Wyatt Merrick in front of the net with a pass from the corner. Ashley's high shot beat Klancher clean, setting off a wild South celebration in the stands.

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Service's third line came through with the team's biggest play with 7:22 left to go when Brandon Vukasin flicked the puck to Carlson, whose backhanded shot from in front of Swayman turned out to be the game-winner.

"That felt good," Carlson said of the play, which was also helped along by Blaine Sharrock.

Vukasin got his name on the scoresheet less than three minutes later when he stole the puck deep in the South end and went 5-hole on Swayman to give the Cougars some breathing room.

The two-goal advantage was plenty for Klancher, who stopped nine shots in the final period and finished with 23 saves.

"He's what's been holding this team together," Carlson said.

Swayman was also no slouch, keeping South in the game until the final minutes with 38 saves.

Klancher spent the final 2:17 watching from the bench after he left his own net to play the puck and was run into by South's Tyler Breitenstein, who earned a five-minute charging penalty and a game disqualification. Service backup Kris Mabry didn't face a shot in relief, but the Cougars capitalized on the game-ending power play when Jacob McVay scored with 1:10 left.

Klancher appeared to be okay after the game, leading the Cougars' post-game handshake line.

Carlson said the win proved Service is no fluke.

"I think a lot of people are saying, 'Where did Service come from?' " he said.

Carter said the 10-0 record is nice, but games like Saturday's proved this year's CIC race will be a wide-open battle.

"On any given night you don't know what's going to happen," he said.

West 4, West Valley 2

Codie Cope scored twice for West, which also got goals from Michael Curran and Demetrius Johnson in a 4-2 nonconference win over West Valley on Saturday at Ben Boeke Arena.

The game was tied 1-1 after the first period on goals from Cope and West Valley's Richie Stickle.

West went up 2-1 after the second period on Curran's goal off assists from Dawson Ellingworth and Mac Fair. The Eagles were ahead 4-1 in the third period after tallies from Johnson and Cope before West Valley added a power play goal by Gabe Rankin with 26 seconds to play.

North Pole 3, Chugiak 2

North Pole rebounded from the previous night's 14-1 thrashing by West to earn a 3-2 nonconference decision over Chugiak on Saturday afternoon at Ben Boeke Arena.

North Pole goalie MacCoy Walker stopped 22 of 24 shots and Carmon Teel scored twice for the Patriots, who went 2-1 against Cook Inlet Conference schools during their weekend trip south. North Pole also defeated East on Thursday.

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Chugiak led 2-0 after the first period on a power play goal by Daniel Casey and an even strength tally by Andrew Beckett. Zachary Krajnik assisted on both goals for Chugiak, which also got assists from Kadin Yockey and Jonathan Banovetz.

North Pole tied the game in the second period on goals by Teel and Dylan Latham. Teel second his goal with 12:26 left in the third, and Walker made it stand up with nine saves in the period.

The game featured 15 penalties, including a slash and two roughing penalties on each team in the final five minutes. The rough stuff extended after the whistle, with North Pole's Jason Donald getting penalized for roughing at the 0:00 mark and Casey getting two minutes for head contact and a 10-minute misconduct at the same time.

Jack Straub stopped 23 of 26 shots for the Mustangs.

Matt Tunseth

Matt Tunseth is a former reporter for the Anchorage Daily News and former editor of the Alaska Star.

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