Kenai Central prevailed in another high-scoring game Friday night at the Big Lake Lions Classic hockey tournament, rallying back in the third period to beat Bartlett 8-7 in the consolation semifinals.
Trailing 7-5 after two periods, the Kardinals outscored the Golden Bears 3-0 in the final 15 minutes to clinch the win. Jakeb O’Brien notched the game winner with 36 seconds to go.
Levi Mese tallied a hat trick by the second period, and Ryan Williams stopped 35 of 42 shots to earn the win in goal.
Cody Bell played the hero role for Bartlett, notching four goals and two assists in the losing effort.
Bartlett scored three goals in a span of 1:46 midway through the first period to stake out a 3-0 lead, but Mese answered back in the last minute of the frame to put Kenai on the board.
The two teams traded goals like they were hot in the second period, combining to score five goals in a span of 3:56. At one time during the period, Kenai trailed 6-2, but help was on the way.
Matthew Zorbas scored with 22 seconds left in the second period, closing Bartlett’s lead to two. In the third, Johnathan Hawkins found the netting to cut the gap to 7-6 in the early minutes, and Nate Beiser tied it up with 13:13 left to play.
With time whittled down to under a minute, O’Brien found the right touch to score for the first time all night, putting Kenai ahead of the first time with 36 seconds to go, and the Kards held on from there.
With the win, the Kards moved up to 3-9-0 overall this season, and will play Palmer in Saturday’s tournament fourth-place game.
Monroe 3, Soldotna 1
The Stars fell in the Big Lake Lions Classic semifinal round Friday night with loss to Monroe Catholic.
The Stars will face Colony in the tournament third-place contest Saturday at 5 p.m. Wasilla beat Colony 7-5 Friday to advance to the championship game against Monroe.
Against the Rams, SoHi found trouble. Riley Ott scored all three goals for Monroe to lead the charge, finding the net once each period to give Monroe a 3-0 lead just 19 seconds into the final frame.
Soldotna finally broke through with 7:12 left to play on a goal by Ethan Brown, but could not solve Monroe goalie Nathan Jankowski any further. Jankowski stopped 30 of 31 shots by the Stars.
SoHi goalie Billy Yoder stopped 25 of 28 shots.
With the loss, SoHi dropped to 7-4-1 overall on the season.
Chugiak 8, Homer 0
The Chugiak Mustangs rolled to a shutout victory Friday night in Homer. The Mariners fell to 5-7 overall with the loss.
The Mustangs took control in the first period by scoring three goals, then added two in the second and three more in the third.
Chugiak and Homer will play again Saturday at noon.
Friday
Rams 3, Stars 1
Monroe 1 1 1 —3
Soldotna 0 0 1 —1
1st period — 1. Monroe, Ott (Szumigala, Michel), 9:58. Penalties — Monroe 1 for 2:00.
2nd period — 2. Monroe, Ott (Coiley), 1:03. Penalties — Monroe 5 for 10:00; Soldotna 3 for 6:00.
3rd period — 3. Monroe, Ott (unassisted), SH, :19; 4. Soldotna, Brown (Urban, Brantley), 7:48. Penalties — Monroe 3 for 6:00; Soldotna 1 for 2:00.
Shots on goal — Monroe 9-14-5—28; Soldotna 7-11-13—31.
Goalies — Monroe, Jankowski (31 shots, 30 saves); Soldotna, Yoder (28 shots, 25 saves).
Kardinals 8, Golden Bears 7
Kenai 1 4 3 —8
Bartlett 3 4 0 —7
1st period — 1. Bartlett, Abrego (Bell), 7:03; 2. Bartlett, Bell (unassisted), 8:03; 3. Bartlett, Mackin (Bell, Beals), 8:49; 4. Kenai, Mese (O’Brien), 14:24. Penalties — Kenai 2 for 4:00; Bartlett 2 for 4:00.
2nd period — 5. Kenai, Mese (O’Brien), 4:12; 6. Bartlett, Bell (Mackin, Abrego), 4:42; 6. Bartlett, Bell (Abrego), 4:52; 7. Bartlett, Bell (Abrego), 5:28; 8. Kenai, Mese (Hagel, Maxson), 7:52; 9. Kenai, Hawkins (Zorbas), 8:08; 10. Bartlett, Mackin (unassisted), 13:32; 11. Kenai, Zorbas (Hagel), 14:38. Penalties — Kenai 2 for 4:00; Bartlett 2 for 4:00.
3rd period — 12. Kenai, Hawkins (Hagel), 1:47; 13. Kenai, Beiser (O’Brien, Hawkins), 3:31; 14. Kenai, O’Brien (unassisted), 14:24. Penalties — Kenai 2 for 4:00; Bartlett 1 for 2:00.
Shots on goal — Kenai 11-16-22—49; Bartlett 13-16-13—42.
Goalies — Kenai, Williams (42 shots, 35 saves); Bartlett, Henderson (49 shots, 41 saves).
