Kenai 4, Chugiak 3
Gavin Liles embraced the swarm of teammates who surrounded him as time expired in the third period of Thursday night’s game between the Kardinals and the Chugiak Mustangs. The Kenai defenseman capped off a Kenai come-from-behind rally, scoring the game-tying goal with 5.9 seconds left in regulation.
The Kardinals trailed 3-1 entering the final period but narrowed the Mustangs’ lead to one when Logan Mese took a threaded pass from Avery Martin and flipped a backhanded shot over the shoulder of Chugiak goaltender Weston Braunwarth at 6:30. The Kardinals were unable to tie things up for the next five minutes and pulled goalie Evyn Witt with less than a minute to play.
Enter Liles.
With under 20 seconds to play and the puck in neutral ice, the Kardinals’ senior fired a pass into the Chugiak zone, then with less than 10 seconds, stripped the puck away from a Mustangs’ defenseman with just enough time left to flick a wrist shot into the top of the net for the tie.
Then it was bedlam as the Kenai bench and fans erupted. But the job wasn’t over; the Kardinals still had to continue play into overtime.
Enter Mese.
The senior center and team leader took an outlet pass off a faceoff in the Kenai zone, then skated right down the throat of three Mustangs and snapped a 50-foot wrist shot past the unsuspecting Braunwarth to secure the Kardinals’ win.
Witt put up another solid performance in the net, stopping 24 of Chugiak’s 27 shots.
The Mustangs represent the fifth Division I team Kenai has played in their first five games of the season. The Kardinals have gone 3-2 in those games, outscoring their DI opponents 13-9.
Next up: Kenai hosts Kodiak in back-to-back games on Friday at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday at 12:00 p.m. Both games will be played at the Kenai Ice Rink. Tune into Friday’s game on ESPN 1140AM, 96.9FM, or stream it live at radiokenai.com. Pregame coverage begins after 6:40 p.m.