Kenai 3, Palmer 5
Without the help of their top two point scorers, the Kenai Kardinals put up a valiant fight against the 2022-23 Railbelt champion Palmer Moose last night, but came up just short, losing by a final score of 3-5.
The Kenai Cup is on, and the Kenai Multipurpose Ice Rink is playing host to a group play tournament. The Kardinals are joined by the Palmer Moose, Kodiak Bears, Homer Mariners, Colony Knights, and the Tri-Valley Vikings.
Logan Mese and Avery Martin, who have led the Kardinals offense this season, were not with the team Thursday night when Kenai took on the Moose, an their absence was felt. The Kardinals had multiple goal scoring opportunities which were just a touch away from finding the net, and it seemed like the void left by Mese and Avery was the difference. That isn’t to say the game lacked any positive takeaways, on the contrary, Mason Vermette, Toby Petty, and Gavin Liles were sparks who looked very ready to carry the team in the coming seasons.
Vermette in particular, a freshman, showed flashes of skill and awareness on the ice which inclines one to think the Kardinal’s will be in very capable hands when the duo of Mese and Martin fly the coop in 2025. At one point in the third period, Vermette spun at center ice and took a saucer pass midair from his own goal line off the stick blade, and redirected the puck into a serviceable offensive position. Factor flashes like that in with an assist in the first period, and a near coast-to-coast wrap around goal in the second, and Kenai has very solid building blocks for future success — not to mention the present.
On the Palmer side, the game was unequivocally dominated by their stand out leader and captain, Elijah Von Gunten. Von Gunten had a hat trick on the night, and was involved on every Palmer goal. He finished the night with five points on three goals and two assists.
Kenai played very well without Mese and Martin, but could never seem to find an answer for the elder Von Gunten (Elijah’s younger brother, Kaleb, plays for Palmer as well). Every time the Moose captain was on the ice, his size, speed, and ability to muscle his way through contact created one opportunity after another. Without having an official time of possession statistic, it would be difficult to imagine the Moose controlled the puck anything less than 90% of the time Von Gunten was on the ice.
The Kardinals also struggled on the Power Play. (Their own, not Palmer’s, but more on that later). Minus the afore mentioned Vermette goal, Kenai couldn’t get anything set up each of the three times they had a man advantage.
On to the recap.
Kenai fell behind in the latter half of the first period when Von Gunten found the net for the first time of the night at 10:22, a wrister from the right circle that beat Kardinal’s goalie Seanna Swanson clean on the right side. The Kardinal’s found life, though, on a Gavin Liles equalizer at 12:39. Liles was assisted by Petty and Vermette.
In the second period the Kardinals spent enough time in the penalty box they may as well have opened a post office box. Kenai picked up four penalties, stacking two on top of one another at one point, giving Palmer a brief two-man advantage. Von Gunten scored his second goal during Palmer’s second power play of the period at 8:35, giving the Moose their second lead of the game. Speaking of the two-man advantage, this was the moment Kenai really came alive. Off the faceoff, Toby Petty took and outlet pass for a brilliant breakaway goal at 10:56 to level the score at 2 apiece. The Kardinals killed the rest of the 3-on-5 disadvantage, then the remaining penalty time. With under a minute to play, Vermette circled deep in his own zone, and navigated his way wall to wall through Palmer defenders before circling the Moose net and sneaking a wrap-around goal inside the post at 14:12. 3-2 Kenai.
The third period turned into the Elijah Von Gunten show, however. Kenai kept an offensive onslaught by the Moose at bay for almost four minutes before the younger Von Gunten (Kaleb) knotted the score 3-3 at 3:54. Elijah recorded an assist. Just over a minute later Palmer found the net again at 5:07 — this time it was Bradford Heard (also assisted by Elijah Von Gunten). 4-3 Moose. And putting the game on ice, the elder Von Gunten picked up his hat trick, scoring at 12:13, and giving Palmer its largest lead, and game final of 5-3.
Kenai hits the ice again tonight, taking on the Colony Knights at 7:00 pm. The Kardinals will wrap up their tournament schedule against Kodiak at 3:00 pm on Saturday.