Kenai Central and Soldotna both won at the Stars and Stripes Showdown in Palmer on Friday.
Kenai 4, South 3
Logan Mese scored with 1:09 left in the game to lift the Division II Kardinals past the Division I Wolverines.
Evyn Witt made 32 saves for the Kards, while Noah Nevin stopped 27 for the Wolverines.
South led 1-0 after the first period on a Thomas Gularte strike.
Special teams quickly put Kenai out front in the second period. Sawyer Vann scored on the power play, then Avery Martin scored short-handed.
Alexander Green scored late in the second for South for a 2-2 game.
Kenai jumped on top again with 12:19 to play when Gavin Liles scored. Chase Mascelli then tied it with 1:53 left.
That set up the game-winner from Mese, who assisted on the first three goals of the night.
Soldotna 5, North Pole 2
Goaltending and special teams pushed the Stars to a victory in a game featuring two Division II state qualifiers from last season.
Brycen Clyde made 40 saves for SoHi, while Daniel Rady stopped 23 for the Patriots.
The Stars also had three power-play goals and a short-handed goal.
“They were a good hockey club,” SoHi head coach Anthony Zurfluh wrote in a text message. “We kept them to the perimeter and took care of business.”
SoHi went up 2-0 after the first period on power-play strikes by Daniel Heath and Noah Crabtree.
In the second period, SoHi stretched the lead to 4-0 when Riley Cronin scored short-handed and Draiden Mullican scored on the power play.
Barrett Ricca cut it to 4-1 before the end of the second period for North Pole.
Nathanael Boatright made it 5-1 in the third before Carter Borkovec scored for the Patriots.
Friday
Kardinals 4, Wolverines 3
Ken 0 2 2 —4
Sou 1 1 1 —3
First period — 1. South, Gularte (Tunney), 4:39. Penalties — Kenai 1 for 2:00; South 2 for 4:00.
Second period — 2. Kenai, Vann (Mese, Martin), pp, 0:19. 3. Kenai, Martin (Mese), sh, 1:27. 4. South, Green (Lamantia), 12:24. Penalties — Kenai 5 for 10:00; Soiuth 2 for 6:00.
Third period — 5. Kenai, Liles (Mese), 2:41. 6. South, Mascelli (Tunney, Lake), 13:07. 7. Kenai, Mese (Langham), 13:51. Penalties — South 3 for 6:00.
Shots on goal — Kenai 8-10-13—31; South 10-16-9—35.
Goalies — Kenai, Witt (35 shots, 32 saves); South, Nevin (31 shots, 27 saves).
Stars 5, Patriots 2
NP 0 1 1 —2
Sol 2 2 1 —5
First period — 1. Soldotna, Heath (DeRaeve), pp, 2:55. 2. Soldotna, Crabtree (Heath, DeRaeve), pp, 9:10. Penalties — North Pole 2 for 4:00; Soldotna 1 for 2:00.
Second period — 3. Soldotna, Cronin (Crabtree), sh, 4:08. 4. Soldotna, Mullican (Crabtree), pp, 8:39. 5. North Pole, Ricca (un.), 9:33. Penalties — North Pole 3 for 6:00; Soldotna 2 for 7:00.
Third period — 6. Soldotna, Boatright (Larsen), 13:11. 7. North Pole, Borkovec (un.), 13:52. Penalties — North Pole 1 for 2:00; Soldotna 2 for 4:00.
Shots on goal — North Pole 14-14-14—42; Soldotna 4-13-11—28.
Goalies — North Pole, Rady (28 shots, 23 saves); Soldotna, Clyde (42 shots, 40 saves).
Kenai forward Logan Mese skates by the defenseman during a 4-3 win over South Anchorage in the Alaska Armed Forces Stars and Stripes Showdown on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, at the MTA Events Center in Palmer. (Photo by Jeremiah Bartz/Frontiersman)
