The Palmer Moose scored twice in the third period to pick up a 4-2 Railbelt Conference hockey win over Kenai Central Saturday in Palmer.
The Kardinals finished the weekend 1-2 with a Thursday loss to nonconference opponent Service and a Friday win over Houston.
Saturday in Palmer, the Kards scored first to take a 1-0 lead on a goal from Miles Marston. The Moose tied it in the second period on a Zach Nelius score, but Kenai reclaimed the lead with 2 minutes, 59 seconds, left in the second on a Caden Warren goal.
Nelius lit the lamp again with 1:38 left in the period to knot it up at the second intermission.
Palmer took its first lead with 11:10 left in the third period on a goal by Jeremy Horacek, then added the insurance goal less than two minutes later from Bryce Armstrong.
The Moose figured out Kenai’s defense by winning the shots tally 33-8 over the final two periods. Kenai goalie Jackson Cross stopped 37 of 41 shots by Palmer, while Palmer goalie Joshua Horacek made 15 saves on 17 shots for the win.
Homer 2, Service 1
The Mariners finished the weekend 2-0 after defeating the Cougars in a nonconference clash Saturday at Ben Boeke Ice Arena.
The win pushed Homer’s overall season record to 11-0-1 overall, with its lone blemish coming via a 4-4 tie with Kenai on Nov. 23.
Saturday in Anchorage, the Mariners tallied two third-period goals to walk off with the victory over Service. The Cougars struck first with a Morgan Pagels goal just eight seconds before the second intermission, but Tyler Gilliland tied it up early in the third period with help from Toby Nevak.
Ethan Pitzman, Homer’s points leader, notched the go-ahead goal with 2:36 to play, securing the victory.
Keegan Strong got the win in goal for Homer with 19 saves on 20 shots.
Kenai 9, Houston 1
The Kenai Central hockey team walked away with a lopsided victory Friday in Railbelt Conference play in Houston.
The Kardinals scored twice in the first period, then poured it on in the second with five goals to build a daunting lead. Jordan Knudson and Nate Beiser scored two goals each, while the Kards also got goals from Caden Warren, Jacob Begich, Miles Marston, Gavin Langham and Nick Wehrstein.
Tommy Baker earned the win in goal for Kenai with 29 saves on 30 shots.
Homer 8, Bartlett 3
The Mariners routed the Golden Bears Friday afternoon with a nonconference win at Anchorage’s Ben Boeke Ice Arena.
The Mariners received two goals each from Alden Ross and Phinny Weston. Homer also got goals from Isaiah Nevak, Casey Otis, Kazden Stineff and Austin Shafford.
Homer dominated possession and led the shots tally 47-17, and also netted three short-handed goals.
Ross scored twice in the first period to get the blowout going, starting just 37 seconds into the game.
Bartlett scored three goals in the second period to close the gap to 4-3 at one point. Both teams combined for five goals in the final 4:36 of game time in the second period.
Saturday
Moose 4, Kardinals 2
Kenai 1 1 0 —2
Palmer 0 2 2 —4
1st period — 1. Kenai, Marston (Verkuilen), 10:44. Penalties — Kenai 1 for 2:00; Palmer 1 for 2:00.
2nd period — 2. Palmer, Nelius (unassisted), 8:58; 3. Kenai, Warren (Beiser), 12:01; 4. Palmer, Nelius (unassisted), 13:22. Penalties — Kenai 1 for 2:00.
3rd period — 5. Palmer, Horacek (Armstrong, Greco), 3:50; 6. Palmer, Armstrong (Hooks), 5:16. Penalties — Kenai 1 for 5:00; Palmer 3 for 6:00.
Shots on goal — Kenai 9-5-3—17; Palmer 8-17-16—41.
Goalies — Kenai, Cross (41 shots, 37 saves); Palmer, Horacek (17 shots, 15 saves).
Mariners 2, Cougars 1
Homer 0 0 2 —2
Service 0 1 0 —1
1st period — no scoring. Penalties — Service 1 for 2:00.
2nd period — 1. Service, Pagels (Hoff), 14:52. Penalties — Homer 2 for 4:00; Service 2 for 4:00.
3rd period — 2. Homer, Gilliland (Weston), 1:58; 3. Homer, Pitzman (Weston), 12:24. Penalties — Service 1 for 2:00.
Shots on goal — Homer 5-11-4—20; Service 8-9-8—25.
Goalies — Homer, Strong (20 shots, 19 saves); Service, Hoff (25 shots, 23 saves).
Friday
Kardinals 9, Hawks 1
Kenai Central 2 5 2 —9
Houston 0 0 1 —1
1st period — 1. Kenai, Warren (unassisted), 6:34; 2. Kenai, Begich (Erwin), 8:32. Penalties — Kenai 1 for 2:00; Houston 1 for 2:00.
2nd period — 3. Kenai, Marston (unassisted), 0:16; 4. Kenai, Knudson (Begich, Warren), SH, 6:32; 5. Kenai, Beiser (unassisted), SH, 6:38; 6. Kenai, Langham (unassisted), 10:59; 7. Kenai, Beiser (Warren), PP, 11:27. Penalties — Kenai 3 for 6:00; Houston 2 for 4:00.
3rd period — 8. Kenai, Knudson (unassisted), 3:15; 9. Houston, Hogan (Preboski, Rasnake-Squires), 3:27; 10. Kenai, Wehrstein (Bucho, Graves), 4:33. Penalties — none.
Shots on goal — Kenai Central 13-16-8—37; Houston 7-7-16—30.
Goalies — Kenai Central, Baker (30 shots, 29 saves); Houston, Smoldon (37 shots, 28 saves).
Mariners 8, Golden Bears 3
Homer 2 3 3 —8
Bartlett 0 3 0 —3
1st period — 1. Homer, Ross (Pitzman, Weston), 0:37; 2. Homer, Ross (Knutson, Stineff), 2:42. Penalties — Homer 2 for 4:00.
2nd period — 3. Homer, Nevak (unassisted), SH, 6:46; 4. Bartlett, Wilson (Beals, Laflamme), 10:24; 5. Homer, Otis (Weston, Stineff), 10:37; 6. Bartlett, Beals (Laflamme, Vandenbos), 12:26; 7. Bartlett, Beals (unassisted), 13:12; 8. Homer, Weston (Pitzman), 13:28. Penalties — Homer 3 for 17:00; Bartlett 3 for 6:00.
3rd period — 9. Homer, Weston (Shafford, Stineff), 6:49; 10. Homer, Stineff (Weston, Pitzman), SH, 10:33; 11. Homer, Shafford (unassisted), SH, 14:29. Penalties — Homer 3 for 17:00.
Shots on goal — Homer 16-14-17—47; Bartlett 7-8-2—17.
Goalies — Homer, Polushkin (17 shots, 14 saves); Bartlett, Harrington (47 shots, 39 saves).
