The Soldotna-Kenai Central hockey rivalry will enter uncharted territory Friday, Feb. 7, when the two squads face off at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex for a spot in the Division II state championship.
“I mean, let’s face it, that’s the one everybody’s here to see,” said Soldotna head coach Anthony Zurfluh, who also played prep hockey for Soldotna. “It’s going to be a war. That’s for sure.”
The Stars, the top seed in the tournament, defeated No. 8 Delta 7-2 in Thursday’s opening round, while the Kardinals, the No. 5 seed, knocked off No. 4 North Pole 1-0.
On the other side of the bracket, No. 6 Juneau-Douglas: Yadaa.at Kale defeated defending state champ and No. 3 seed Houston 5-4 in overtime and No. 2 Palmer defeated No. 7 Tri-Valley 10-1.
There is no postseason tournament for the Northern Lights Conference, but that’s what the state tourney has become with the NLC going 4-0 against the Aurora Conference on Thursday.
“That’s what we’re all about,” Zurfluh said. “I think that’s huge. I’m proud of Kenai. They played a really good hockey game today.
“It’s super awesome for Juneau to do what they did. And of course, we figured Palmer would take care of business. We were hoping we could too.”
The seeding is exactly how it would have been in an NLC tourney.
Palmer, which won the league, faces Juneau, fourth in the league, at 4 p.m. Then Kenai, second in the league, takes on SoHi, third in the league, at 6:30 p.m.
In the fourth-place bracket, Delta and North Pole play at 1:30 p.m. and Houston and Tri-Valley play at 11 a.m.
A Kenai Peninsula team has never won a first-round game in the Division I state hockey tournament, but the door was opened for postseason success when peninsula schools were reclassified to Division II starting in the 2018-19 season.
Homer has won two state titles since then, while Soldotna won one and has appeared in two other finals.
Kenai has yet to appear in a final, winning a first round game last season for the first time, but losing in the semis to Houston. The Kards have won three of their four meetings with the Stars this season, including the last three.
A big part of the Kardinals’ frustration has been North Pole, which defeated the Kards in the first round in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Kenai head coach Steve Hallam watched video of the Patriots coming into the game and saw a great defensive squad that could grind out wins.
“We have to play defense first and we have to work it from there,” Hallam said. “I’m proud of them. Everyone bought into the game plan.”
Evyn Witt had the shutout for Kenai, with defensemen Cole Langham, Sawyer Vann, Gavin Liles and Cameron Schwin limiting the Patriots to 13 shots on net.
Hallam said Witt stood out late in the second period and early in the third period.
“Having a goalie like Evan, who has so much confidence and composure, I can’t speak highly enough about it,” Hallam said.
Even with the great defense, the Patriots made the Kardinals sweat all the way through thanks to goalie Kieran Olson, who made 31 saves.
Olson faced seven Kenai power plays on the night, including 1:30 of a five-on-three, and did not give up a power-play goal.
“He played amazing,” North Pole head coach Jesse Lindsoe said. “He kept us in the game. That’s all there is to it.
“He was the best player on the ice of both teams tonight.”
The only time the Kardinals solved Olson was with 3:49 left in the second period, when Liles fired into traffic in front of the net. Logan Mese, the newly minted three-time NLC MVP, got his stick on the puck and nudged it across the line.
“It wasn’t clean,” Hallam said of the goal. “We got a lot of bodies and pucks to the net.
“It was slow to go over the line. I can tell you it took like five years to get from A to B.”
From that point on, Kenai kept the defensive structure that had worked all game. Hallam said everyone deserves credit for the shutout.
“It’s such a unique group of individuals in that locker room,” Hallam said. “They’re just mature and super competitive, but in the way you really like it.
“It sticks them all together. Instead of having individuals, it’s all just one.”
Lindsoe was impressed by Kenai’s defense effort.
“They wanted the puck,” he said. “I feel like they knew if we got open, we can put the puck in the net, and they limited our scoring chances.”
Soldotna 7, Delta 2
Daniel Heath scored four times in pushing the Stars to the semifinals.
“He shows up every game and he’s a senior,” Zurfluh said of Heath. “He wants it just as bad as anybody. So we appreciate that.”
Heath’s four goals, along with a tally from Noah Crabtree, had the Stars up 5-1 with 5:16 left in the second period. Anthony Lansing had a first-period, power-play goal for the Huskies.
Zurfluh said the big early lead was key with an eye toward the matchup with Kenai.
“We just wanted to dial in and get locked and loaded for tomorrow,” Zurfluh said. “We also wanted to rest our horses.
“We were able to get up and play our third and fourth lines, and that’s a big deal to get those guys ready for tomorrow.”
With Soldotna going deeper in its lineup, the Huskies responded by losing the shot count by one. Brycen Clyde stopped 30 for SoHi, while Anthony White had 26 saves for Delta.
Delta’s Gavin Smith had a penalty shot goal in the third period for the Huskies.
“Props to Delta,” Zurfluh said. “I thought they played a really good game.
“That Gavin Smith kid is hard to deal with. We knew that coming in, so it was everything we thought.”
Keegan Myrick and Sylas Hughes added goals for Soldotna.
Moose 10, Viking Warriors 1
The Moose took a 5-0 lead after the first period in cruising to the win.
Palmer had eight different players score, with Peyton Neumann and Cooper Frank leading the way with a pair of tallies.
Also scoring for Palmer were Bryce Horacek, Liam Hilscher, Colin Bigelow, Jacob Logan, Kinan Greco and Nicholas McQuillin.
Owen Jusczak scored in the third period for Tri-Valley.
Emily Christman made 17 saves for the Moose, while Elijah Graham stopped 30 for the Viking Warriors.
Crimson Bears 5, Hawks 4, OT
Juneau-Douglas: Yadaa.at Kale continued to be a thorn in the side of Houston at state.
The Hawks won state titles in 2022 and 2024, but lost to the Crimson Bears in the semifinals in 2023 and now have lost again.
The game was a duel between Houston’s Daniel Matveev and Juneau’s Dylan Sowa.
Matveev recorded a hat trick and an assist, but Sowa had four goals. The fourth was the game-winner, coming with 6:01 left in overtime.
Matveev and Sowa both scored in the first period as the teams went to the break at 1-1. Matveev and Sowa scored again in the second period, but this time Juneau’s Drew Cadigan McAdoo also scored for a 2-1 game headed to the third period.
Sowa put the Crimson Bears up 3-1 with 12:44 left in the game. Matveev battled back with a goal with 8:43 to play, then Zasim Konev tied it on the power play with 5:29 left.
Caleb Friend made 34 saves for Juneau, while Dylan Shaffer stopped 23 for the Hawks.
First National Cup
Division II state hockey
Thursday
Kardinals 1, Patriots 0
Ken 0 1 0 —1
NP 0 0 0 —0
First period — none. Penalties — Kenai 1 for 2:00; North Pole 1 for 2:00.
Second period — 1. Kenai, Mese (Liles), 11:11. Penalties — Kenai 2 for 4:00; North Pole 3 for 6:00.
Third period — none. Penalties — North Pole 3 for 6:00.
Shots on goal — Kenai 10-12-10—32; North Pole 6-4-5—15.
Goalies — Kenai, Witt (15 shots, 15 saves); North Pole, Olson (32 shots, 31 saves).
Power plays — Kenai 0 for 7, North Pole 0 for 3.
Stars 7, Huskies 2
Del 1 0 1 —2
Sol 3 3 1 —7
First period — 1. Soldotna, Crabtree (Heath, Zurfluh), 4:19. 2. Soldotna, Heath (un.), sh, 5:50. 3. Delta, Lansing (Bevard), 12:38. 4. Soldotna, Heath (DeRaeve), 13:32. Penalties — Delta 1 for 2:00; Soldotna 2 for 4:00.
Second period — 5. Soldotna, Heath (Hawkins), 5:35. 6. Soldotna, Heath (DeRaeve), 9:44. 7. Soldotna, Myrick (Willis, Dahlman), 13:08. Penalties — none.
Third period — 8. Delta, Smith, ps, 5:45. 9. Soldotna, Hughes (Wertanen, Myrick), 14:18. Penalties — Delta 1 for 2:00; Soldotna 3 for 6:00.
Shots on goal — Delta 7-11-14—32; Soldotna 15-10-8—33.
Goalies — Delta, White (33 shots, 26 saves); Soldotna, Clyde (32 shots, 30 saves).
Power plays — Delta 0 for 4; Soldotna 0 for 2.
Soldotna’s Daniel Heath scores on Delta goalie Anthony White at the First National Cup Division II state hockey tournament at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Thursday, February 6, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Central’s Logan Mese reacts after scoring the only goal of the game against North Pole at the First National Cup Division II state hockey tournament at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Thursday, February 6, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Central’s Gavin Liles and Ryder Gagnon try to solve Kieran Olson at the First National Cup Division II state hockey tournament at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Thursday, February 6, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Delta’s Gavin Smith celebrates a goal against Soldotna at the First National Cup Division II state hockey tournament at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Thursday, February 6, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Central’s Evyn Witt makes a save in front of teammate Gavin Liles against North Pole at the First National Cup Division II state hockey tournament at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Thursday, February 6, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
