HIGH SCHOOL BOYS HOCKEY
Wolverines extend run to 3 straight
STATE CHAMPS: South keeps crown by beating Dimond 2-1 while pushing unbeaten streak to 44 games.
Published: February 11, 2007
Last Modified: February 11, 2007 at 04:34 AM 
WASILLA -- With a record 1,600-plus fans stomping bleachers, blowing bugles and screaming hockey eloquence inside Menard Memorial Arena on Saturday evening, South goaltender Nathan Corey kept his focus.
With South's 43-game unbeaten streak on the line and the Dimond Lynx licking their chops to bust it and erase two years of state championship heartache, Corey remained poised for battle.
Even Gov. Sarah Palin watched the First National Cup State Hockey Championship game. She sat above the rink inside the newly constructed box suites.
Still, Corey was cool.
He turned away a point-blank shot from Dimond's JJ Waldrop with less than 10 seconds remaining in regulation and led the Wolverines' 2-1 state championship victory over the Lynx. The stalwart senior finished with 23 saves, while senior forward Shane Rall scored the game winner.
"You can always rely on Nathan Corey," Rall said. "He's our backbone."
When time expired and South had earned its third consecutive state trophy, the Wolverines rushed the ice. They threw their sticks, gloves and helmets into the air and mobbed Corey.
"I just think about the 19 guys on the bench and what I have to do for them," he said. "Because I know they're doing everything they can for me."
There's not much the Wolverines haven't done since their program started three seasons ago. They extended their unbeaten streak to 44 games, which began after losing to West on Jan. 8, 2006, and remained perfect in the postseason (18-0). They finished this season 26-0-2.
They also won the 10th state sports championship overall for South High.
"It's amazing," Corey said. "I don't know what else to say."
With South clinging to a 2-1 lead, 51 seconds remained in the game when Dimond killed a tripping penalty to Scott Wamsganz after South had spent nearly the entire two minues in Dimond's zone, making crisp passes and threatening laser shots.
Dimond's Alex Youngmun cleared the puck to Wamsganz in South's zone. Dimond had a one-man advantage too, because Lynx goaltender Mickey Geraghty, who finished with 31 saves, was pulled with 20 seconds left.
But Corey kept calm when Wamsganz led a barrage of maroon jerseys crowding his net. The puck was sent behind and around the goal. The puck came into Corey's view. Waldrop was there and got his stick on it just outside the crease.
He shot. But Corey's stick save cleared the puck to the right and saved South's season.
"I'm not surprised he made that save," South junior Robb Haider said. "He just plays like that. When he gets into that zone, he just really locks it down."
In the second period, Dimond senior Eric Vilce momentarily pulled Corey from his zone. Vilce scored an unassisted goal with 8:51 remaining in the period.
His short-handed goal gave Dimond a 1-0 lead. But South's Ryan Kircher tied the game 1:05 later with a shot from the right circle that skidded underneath the lunging body of Dimond forward Adam Treptow and the pads of Geraghty.
Then, in the third, the unthinkable happened for Rall -- he scored the game-winner in a game with enough magnitude to set off an Alaska earthquake. With players scrapping for the puck near center ice, it popped out and into Rall's possession. He out-skated three Dimond players and sped toward Geraghty. Skating to his left, Rall scored on the backhand.
"I put on the wheels and just busted through," he said. "I just saw the five hole and slid it through."
And South captured not only its third straight championship, but its third over the Lynx (19-9-0). Saturday's score mirrored last year's state title game when South's Sam Cehula scored the winning goal at the Big Dipper Ice Arena in Fairbanks. In 2005, South beat Dimond 5-1.
"This was a typical southside rivalry game," South head coach Mike Ashley said. "This is the way it is."
But with Saturday's record-setting night -- the biggest crowd ever at Menard Memorial Arena, according to Wasilla Sports Complex officials -- Alaska's governor dropping the ceremonial puck and South's dominance of high school hockey on the line, the outcome felt different to Corey.
He thought back to earlier this year when the Anchorage School District considered cutting boys hockey in Anchorage from its 2007-08 budget. Corey felt thankful.
"High school hockey's been great to me," he said. "I don't know what would happen if they ever cut it. This is the best feeling in the world."
Daily News reporter Kevin Klott can be reached at kklott@adn.com.
First National Cup State Hockey Championships
Saturday's Class 4A championship game at Menard Memorial Arena
Dimond 0 1 0 -- 1
South 0 1 1 -- 2
First Period -- None. Penalties -- Dimond 2 for 4; South 2 for 4.
Second Period -- 1, Dimond, Vilce (unassisted), 8:51 (sh); 2, South, Kircher (Pichler, Smejdir), 9:56 (pp). Penalties -- Dimond 5 for 10; South 4 for 8.
Third Period -- 3, South, Rall (Carson), 4:42. Penalties -- Dimond 2 for 4; South 1 for 2.
Goalies -- Dimond, Geraghty 11-10-10--31; South, Corey 4-7-12--23.
All-tournament honors
SOUTH: Kyle Pichler, Nathan Corey, Robb Haider, Braden Kinnebrew. DIMOND: Grant Dye, Mickey Geraghty, Alex Youngmun, Eric Vilce, Cody Mesick. WEST: Matt Thompson, Nick Merkle. SERVICE: Kory Roy, Logan Rounds. KENAI: Jed McGlasson, Brad Fusaro, Lauren Baldwin. WASILLA: Matthew Friese
