The SoHi hockey team rallied for a 5-3 win over the Kenai Kardinals on Saturday in the final contest of the hockey regular season; SoHi recording its first victory over Kenai in the abbreviated peninsula hockey season.
Now all three teams: Kenai, Homer and SoHi, will prepare for the upcoming ASAA Division II State Hockey Championships scheduled to begin with a play-in game on Wednesday , February 17th at the Menard Arena in Wasilla.
SoHi 5 – Kenai 3
Following a scoreless first period, the Kenai Kardinals opened an 2-0 lead midway through the second period. Daniel Shelton opened the scoring with a goal at 6:21 and Aidan Milburn followed just :36 seconds later to give Kenai a 2-0 advantage.
The Stars answered with back-to-back, power-play goals by Dylan Walton (12:34) and Silas Larsen (13:47) to tie the game at 2-2, and took the lead with a second, Walton goal to close the second period.
The Stars added an Arthur goal early n the third period for a 4-2, two goal lead. Kenai scored on a Cooper Stock goal to draw to within a goal at 4-3 SoHi.
SoHi’s Dylan Walton completed his three-goal hat trick with an empty-net goal to close the scoring with :50 seconds remaining in regulation. Final Score: SoHi 5 – Kenai 3
In goal, SoHi’s Ayden See recorded 27 saves; Kenai’s Jackson Cross recorded 17 saves.
Final Standings (to be used for seeding into the Division II Hockey State Championships)
Kenai 4-2
SoHi 3-3
Homer 2-4
Kenai will be the #1 seed from the peninsula; SoHi, #2 seed;
Homer, #3 seed, will play in Wednesday’s play-in game against Houston (Valley #2 seed) at 7:30 p.m. at the Menard Arena.
More details on the ASAA Division II State Hockey Championships will be available on Sunday.
