FAIRBANKS — The Lathrop Malemutes had scored only two goals combined in a pair of losses to crosstown rival West Valley during the Railbelt Hockey Conference regular season.

The defending state Class 4A champions, however, scored three times in the first period of Saturday night’s conference championship, and it helped propel the Malemutes to a 5-3 upset win at the Patty Center.

“We knew we could hang with these guys,” said Lathrop junior goaltender Stephon Williams, who made 29 saves. “Not many people expected much out of us, so we wanted to show the town that we’re still the No. 1 team.”

With the win, Lathrop advances to the state championship tournament in Wasilla as the Railbelt’s top seed and will play South Anchorage on Thursday. West Valley, despite an 8-0 record in the Railbelt’s regular season, will be the second Railbelt seed and clash with Dimond.

Lathrop started quickly when sophomore defenseman Colton Wolton capitalized on a turnover to put his team ahead 1-0 just 57 seconds into the game. Nolan Baade tallied on a long shot that was deflected through West Valley goalie Ian Morey’s legs with 4:01 left in the period, and Chayse Franklin made it 3-0 late in the period by tapping in a pass from Jacob Wolter on the power play.

“Lathrop got a couple of bounces early and capitalized on their chances and put us in a deep hole,” West Valley head coach Wayne Sawchuk said. “The kids battled back and just didn’t finish it at the end.”

The Wolfpack, which outshot Lathrop 13-6 in the first period and 12-7 in the second, came out with energy for the second period and were rewarded with a power-play goal at 8:20 on a rocket from the high slot by Justin Woods.

But Colton Wolter, who was in the penalty box for Woods’ goal, made it 4-1 by deking Morey two minutes later. After a blocked shot, Whitney Wivoda started a rush with a pass to Jacob Wolter, who set up his twin brother.

West Valley rallied in the third on goals by Logan Wendling at 14:30 and Dylan Blankenship (off a drop pass from Logan Henne) at 5:18 to draw within 4-3.

“Yeah, it was stressful, but the coach was telling us to stay calm,” Colton Wolter said of West Valley’s comeback.

The Wolfpack pressured but failed to get the equalizer before Jacob Wolter iced the game with an empty netter 15 seconds before the final horn.

So what was the difference for Lathrop on Saturday compared to the team’s 4-1 and 2-1 losses to West Valley during the regular season?

“I think it just comes down to execution and work ethic,” Williams said. “We worked the whole game, 45 minutes, and that’s something we’ve been striving for all year. We peaked at the right time.”

The Malemutes hope the peak continues at the state tourney against the Wolverines, who topped them 3-0 on Dec. 3.

“We’re expecting to go down there and beat South the first game,” Colton Wolter said. “(And) just go on from there.”

As for West Valley, which lost to Dimond 6-2 on Dec. 4, “we just told the kids anything can happen,” Sawchuk said.

All-tourney team

West Valley: Dylan Blankenship, Logan Wendling, Justin Woods, Andrew Johnson, Johnny McGee; Lathrop: Colton Wolter, Jacob Wolter, Stephon Williams; North Pole: Hank Parra, Vance Bridgman; Juneau: Nick Mow.

Contact staff writer Matias Saari at 459-7581.