Solid defense for the Kardinals kept Kenai in the game; however, only 15 shots-on-goal proved too few in a 3-1 loss to the Houston Hawks in the opening game of the Stars & Stripes Showdown hockey tournament in Palmer in Thursday morning.
Houston 3 – Kenai 1
Kenai and Houston battled through nearly 2 1/2 periods even with each team scoring single goals in the first period. Houston’s Afanasy Efimov opened the scoring at 8:49 of the first to stake Houston to a 1-0 lead. Kenai’s Landon Cialek tied the game at 11:49 with the Kardinals’ only goal of the game.
After a scoreless second period, Houston’s Daniel Matveev scored to give Houston a 2-1 lead at 8:18 of the third. Matveev closed the scoring with an empty-net goal at 14:54. Final score: Houston 3, Kenai 1
Carson Koppes recorded 27 saves for the Kardinals: Houston’s Ira Burnside faced only 15 shots and recorded 14 saves.
Kenai faces Colony on Friday night in the 8 p.m. game at the Stars & Stripes Showdown.
The Soldotna Stars face-off against Colony in the 8 p.m. game on Thursday at the MTA Center in Palmer.
Follow all of the Kenai and SoHi hockey games at ESPN 1140AM and streaming live at radiokenai.com
