Kenai 1, North Pole 0
Northern Lights Conference MVP Logan Mese redirected Kenai’s game-winning goal against the North Pole Patriots on Thursday. The win sets up a Spur Highway Showdown between the Kardinals and Soldotna Stars in the ASAA Division 2 Hockey State Semifinal.
Despite controlling the puck for much of the game, the Kardinals were only able to break through against North Pole Goalie Kieran Olson one time, but that was all they needed. With just over four minutes to play in the second period, Kenai senior defenseman Gavin Liles ripped off a one-time slap shot that received a touch from Mese to sneak Kenai’s lone goal past the implacable Patriot netminder.
For the second straight year, Kenai advances to the D2 State semifinal. Last year, the Kardinals fell in the semi to the eventual tournament champion Houston Hawks.
Houston lost to Juneau Douglas in yesterday’s quarterfinal matchup.
Soldotna 7, Delta Junction 2
The Soldotna Stars cruised to a quarterfinal win over the Delta Junction Huskies in the first round of the D2 State Hockey Tournament on Thursday.
Stars senior forward Daniel Heath stole the show with four goals on the night. Heath, along with freshman Noah Crabtree and senior Marshal DeRaeve, were named to the Northern Lights Conference All-Conference team earlier this week.
The Huskies played scrappy hockey all night despite bringing only 13 players to the game. However, the Stars, who snuck into the #1 seed spot for this year’s tournament, had no trouble against Delta and were able to put their second and third lines on the ice for much of the latter two periods.
With the win, Soldotna advances to the State semifinal for the third straight year. They face the Kenai Kardinals on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex. Soldotna looks to reach the D2 State Championship for the third straight season, after winning the title in 2023, defeating Juneau Douglas, then losing to Houston in 2024.
Listen to the Kenai v SoHi game on ESPN 1140 AM, 96.9 FM, or radiokenai.com. Pregame coverage begins at 6:15 p.m.
Other Thursday Results:
Juneau Douglas 5, Houston 4
Palmer 10, Tri Valley 1
Friday Games:
11:00 a.m. Houston v Tri Valley
1:30 p.m. North Pole v Delta Junction
4:00 p.m. (Semifinal 1) Palmer v Juneau Douglas
6:30 p.m. (Semifinal 2) Soldotna v Kenai
