The Soldotna Stars rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period to defeat Monroe Catholic 6-5 in overtime in the first game of the 2021 ASAA Division II State Hockey Championships.
SoHi 6 – Monroe 5
The Stars netted the game-winner by Aiden Burcham just 1:30 into the sudden-death overtime period for the 6-5 victory. SoHi advances to the semi-final game on Friday, February 19 at the Menard Arena in Wasilla to face the winner of Palmer v Tri-Valley.
The Stars opened the scoring wth a Silas Larsen goal at 13:47 and lead 1-0 after one period.
Monroe took the lead early in the second period on back-to-back goals by Chris Hodges. SoHi tied the contest at 2-2 on a Gavin Hakkenson goal.
The third period was a scoring fest with seven combined goals.
Monroe’s Hodges completed his hat trick early in the third for a 3-2 Rams advantage. Miles Fowler gave Monroe a 4-2 lead at 3:21 of the third.
Then it was SoHi’s offense taking control. The Stars scored three-straight goals: Aiden Burcham, Larsen and Hakkenson scored in under five minutes to stake the Stars to a 5-4 lead.
Monroe’s Dom Coiley sent the game to overtime with a tying goal with only :59 seconds remaining in regulation.
In the overtime, Burcham scored the game-winner for the Stars just 1:30 into the extra time. Final Score: SoHi 6 – Monroe 5.
SoHi goalie Ayden See recorded 14 saves as SoHi outshot Monroe 41-19.
SoHi advances to the championship semi-final on Friday to play Palmer at 4 p.m. on ESPN 1140AM and streaming free at radoiokenai.com.
