Railbelt Conference standings and seeding into the Division II state hockey championships will be determined this week as the Soldotna Stars and Kenai Kardinals open the final week of the hockey regular season on Tuesday with much to be decided.
Soldotna hosts Kenai on Tuesday night at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex for the Stars final home contest and Senior Night for SoHi. Game time set for 7:30 p.m.
The Stars currently stand at 6-1 in the Railbelt Conference and four points behind the 8-1-1 Homer Mariners with three games remaining. SoHi can advance into first place in the conference standings with a three wins or two wins and a tie in the Stars final three games. The Kenai Kardinals (5-3-1), with only one conference game remaining, have clinched at least a third-place conference record and a berth into the upcoming state championships.
Past Pairing
The Kardinals held-off SoHi 6-5 at the Peninsula Ice Challenge in early November in a non-conference pairing. Nate Beiser and Jacob Begich each scored twice for Kenai; Galen Brantley III scored twice for SoHi. Kenai goalie Tommy Baker recorded 45 saves; SoHi’s Corbin Wirz and Josh Tree combined for 29 saves.
SoHi downed Kenai 4-2 in Railbelt Conference action in December on the strength of two, power-play goals in the final period to break a 2-2 tie. In goal for the Stars, Josh Tree recorded 15 saves. For the Kardinals, Tommy Baker turned-away 29 shots.
Upcoming Schedule
Kenai closes the regular season with games against Aurora Conference Tri-Valley on Friday and Saturday in Kenai.
SoHi travels to Juneau for two Railbelt Conference games, Friday and Saturday, to close the Stars regular season.
Based on the unofficial standings, the Kardinals hold a one point lead over Palmer for the 3rd place in the Railbelt, with Palmer having completed conference play. Soldotna, with three remaining games can pass Homer for the #1 Railbelt seed with a sweep of Kenai and Juneau.
(official team records must be submit by school on Sunday, February 2nd-brackets will be available Monday, February 3rd).
Railbelt Conference Standings (unofficial as of 1/26/2020)
Team…………………….Record…Total Points (2 pts per win, 1 pt for tie)
Homer Mariners 8-1-1 17
Soldotna Stars 6-1 13
Kenai Kardinals 5-3-1 11
Palmer Moose 5-5 10
Houston Hawks 1-9 2
Juneau Bears 1-7 2
Division II State Hockey Information
The seeding for the ASAA Division II State Hockey Championships is determined by regular season, conference records ( no conference tournaments for Division II).
Berths to Division II State Hockey:
Aurora Conference – 3
Railbelt Conference – 3
At-Large – 2
The two at-large berths will be selected based on at-large criteria.
Photo courtesy of Kenai Central High School Hockey facebook page