The 2017 North Star Conference Hockey Championships at the MTA Center in Palmer will crown a champion on Saturday; however, it will not be SoHi or Kenai. as the Kardinals were eliminated on Thursday and the Stars fell on Friday night.
Friday Tournament Game Results
SoHi 1 – Colony 4
The Soldotna Stars battled Colony in Friday’s semi-final game, eventually falling 4-1 to the Knights. Colony advances to face Wasilla in the North Star Conference championship game on Saturday.
SoHi and Colony skated to a scoreless first period and the game remained 0-0 until a Colony goal with only 2:12 remaining in the second period. The Stars answered with a Jace Urban goal five minutes into the final period for a 1-1 tie. The Knights scored the game-winner with 6:10 remaining and added a power-play goal and an empty-net goal for the 4-1 victory.
Thursday Tournament Game Results
SoHi 2 – Homer 1
The Soldotna Stars, the #3 seed into the tournament, defeated the Homer Mariners in a close 2-1 contest. SoHi advances to the semi-final, winner’s bracket game against #2 seed Colony on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
The Stars scored first with a Jace Urban goal just 4:16 into the game against Homer. Neither team notched a goal in the second period, setting-up a dramatic third period in the tournament’s first game.
Homer scored on a Robby Larson goal to tie the game at 1-1 at 3:45 of the third period. The Stars scored the game-winner two minutes later off the stick of Alois Neunzert for a 2-1 SoHi lead. A late Mariner flurry was turned-away by Star goalie Billy Yoder. For the game, Yoder stopped 24 of 25 shots; Homer goalie Hunter Warren stopped 22 of 24 SoHi shots. Final Score: SoHi 2 – Homer 1.
Soldotna High School faces Colony High School on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the MTA Center in Palmer. The winner advances to the North Star Conference championship game on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
SoHi hockey will be broadcast on ESPN 1140AM and www.radiokenai.com.
Palmer 7- Kenai 2
The Kenai Kardinals, seeded #5, faced-off against #4 seed Palmer in the first round, falling to the Moose 7-2. with a 4:45 p.m. game time on Thursday.
Kenai allowed an early goal to the Moose; then, answered with a Levi Mese goal with :51 seconds remaining in the first period to tie the game at 1-1.
The Kardinals however allowed four goals in the second period and managed on ly a single Nate Bieser goal. The Kardinals trailed 5-2 after two periods of hockey. Palmer added two, third period goals for a 7-2 Palmer victory. Kenai goalie Ryan Williams recorded 25 saves on 32 shots; Palmer’s Cody Grogon saved 17 of 19 shots.
Palmer advances to play #1 seed Wasilla on Friday at 5:30 p.m. at the MTA Center in Palmer.
