The North Pole Patriots, #1 from the Aurora Conference and the #4 seed into the ASAA Division II State Hockey Championships, outscored the #5 seed Kenai Kardinals 8-3 in the opening round of the state tournament in Fairbanks.
North Pole 8 – Kenai 3
North Pole opened the scoring in the first period on a power-play goal and the Kardinals answered with a power-play goal by Gavin Langham to tie the game at 1-1.
In the second period, the Patriots Daniel Crutcher recorded two goals and an assist to push the Patriots to a 4-1 advantage. Kenai added a Miles Marsten goal to close to 4-2 in the second period.
North Pole’s Crutcher scored a pair of goals to open the third period and staked North Pole to a 6-2 lead less than three minutes into the final period. Kenai scores on a Nate Beiser goal to make it 6-3 and North Pole added a seventh goal midway through the third period and a final goal late in the period for an 8-3 victory for the Patriots. Daniel Crutcher recorded four goals and an assist for North Pole.
Kenai advances to the consolation side of the bracket for a pairing against Tri-Valley on Friday at noon. Tri-Valley fell to #1 seed Homer Mariners 13-0 on Thursday.
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Division II State Tournament First Round Results
#1 Homer Mariners 13 – Tri-Valley 0
#2 SoHi Stars 6 – Houston 1
#3 Palmer Moose 5 – Glennallen 3
#4 North Pole 8 – Kenai Kardinals 3
(All higher seeds won first-round pairings)
