Jacob Begich scored the game-winner in overtime to push the Kenai Karidnals past the Homer Mariners 5-4 in Railbelt Conference hockey on Friday night at the Kevin Bell Arena in Homer.
Begich scored a three-goal hat trick against the Mariners starting with the game’s first goal, a short-handed goal to give Kenai a 1-0 first period advantage.
In the second period, Homer scored a pair of power-play goals just :28 second apart to take a 2-1 lead. Kenai’s Daniel Sheldon tied the game for Kenai at 12:58 of the second at 2-2.
The third period opened with a Begich goal for Kenai and a Kardinal 3-2 lead. The Mariners answered with a power-play goal by Kazden Stineff for a 3-3 tie. The Mariners retook the lead at 4-3 with only :50 seconds remaining on a Casey Otis goal. Kenai tied the game with :08 seconds on the clock with a Sheldon goal to set-up the overtime period.
Begich ended the game with the overtime goal scoring on a rebound from a Landon Cialek shot.
In goal for the Kardinals Carson Koppes recorded 31 saves and Homer’s Keegan Strong recorded 36 saves.
For the second-straight game Kenai recorded a victory in overtime; the Kardinals won the Peninsula Ice Challenge last weekend with an overtime victory against SoHi.
