The Kenai Kardinals and Soldotna Stars hockey teams hit the road for non-conference hockey weekends. The Kardinals finished 2-1 in the End of the Road Tournament in Homer and the Stars faced three opponents on a three-game sweep through Fairbanks, winning two of three games.
Kenai @ End of the Road Tournament at Kevin Bell Arena in Homer
Kenai 1 – Homer 4
A two-goal, third period pushed the Homer Mariners past the Kenai Kardinals in Saturday’ tournament finale’, as Homer downs Kenai 4-1.
The Kardinals lone goal, scored by Jakob O’Brien, came in the first minute of the second period, tying the game at 1-1. Homer scored the go-ahead goal with 1:33 remaining in the second. An insurance goal for Homer midway through the third and an empty-netter for the Mariners advanced the score to 4-1 and a victory for Homer.
For the tournament, Kenai, Homer and Houston all finished with 2-1 records.
Kenai 5 – Houston 3
The Kardinals held-off Houston on Friday for a 5-3 victory. Kenai opened the scoring with a short-handed goal by Jakob O”Brien in the first period. Houston tied the contest with a power-play goal to open the second period.
Kenai netted three power-play goals in the second, OBrien with first and Breanne Eubanks with a pair of power-play tallies.. Kenai lead 4-1 after two periods of hockey.
O’Brien added a short-handed goal early in the third for a 5-1 Kenai lead. Houston closed with a pair of goals. Final Score: Kenai 5 – Houston 3.
Kenai 8 – Bartlett 2
The Kenai hockey team downed Bartlett 8-2 in the first round of the End of the Road tournament, the Kardinals finding their offense on the Homer ice.
Levi Mese opened the scoring with the first of two goals just 3:28 into the first period. Jakeb O’Brien and Jonathon Hawkins add goals for a 4-0 Kardinal lead after one period. Kenai added goals by Jordan Knudsen and Tyler Lingafelt for a 6-1 advance after two periods. Bailey Maxson and Nate Beiser finished the scoring in the third for an 8-2 victory for Kenai.
In the tournament’s second game, Houston held-off Homer 5-4.
SoHi in Fairbanks
The Soldotna Stars traveled north to face three different opponents in three days in the Fairbanks area. SoHi recorded two wins for the weekend.
On Thursday, SoHi faced-off against Lathrop at the Big Dipper Arena and defeated the Malemutes 6-3 on the strength of five, first period goals for SoHi. Jace Urban opened the SoHi barrage with a goal mid-way through the first period. the Stars added four goals in the final four minutes by Ethan Brown, Parker Lockwood, Urban, and Galen Brantley III for a 5-0 lead. SoHi added a lone goal in the second period by Brantley for a 6-0 advantage after two periods. Lathrop scored three mop-up goals in the third as SoHi’s Corbin Wirz took over between the pipes mid-way through the second period and recorded two saves on five shots. Final Score: SoHi 6, Lathrop 3
Friday, the Stars battled West Valley into overtime before falling 2-1 to the Wolfpack. SoHi lead 1-0 late in the third period; allowed a goal to tie the game and then allowed a short-handed goal three minutes into the overtime for a 2-1 West Valley victory.
Saturday, SoHi closed out the week with a trip to North Pole and downed the Patriots 5-2 at the Polar Ice Arena.
