The Kenai Central hockey team was 1-1-0, while Soldotna was 0-1-1, on the first two days of the Stars and Stripes Showdown Tournament at the MTA Events Center in Palmer on Thursday and Friday.
Thursday, the Kardinals defeated Delta 4-1 and Colony defeated Soldotna 4-2. Friday, Soldotna and Wasilla skated to a 2-2 tie, while Kenai lost to Houston 3-2.
The tournament continues Saturday, when Kenai plays West Valley at 11:15 a.m. and Soldotna faces off with North Pole at 6 p.m.
Kenai 4, Delta 1
The Kardinals outshot the Huskies 38-12 on Thursday in moving to 2-2 overall.
Landen Cialek, assisted by Avery Martin, put Kenai up 1-0 after the first period, then Gavin Liles, assisted by Ky Calvert, had Kenai up 2-0 headed to the final period.
With 10:24 to play, Kenai went up 3-0 when Logan Mese scored with help from Toby Petty. Delta immediately answered on a goal from Gavin Smith, assisted by Ethan Dehling.
Zach Rogerss, assisted by Calvert and Celina Martinez, closed out the scoring with 2:53 to play.
Senna Swanson had 11 saves for Kenai, while Jordan Bouziden stopped 34 for the Huskies.
Knights 4, Stars 2
The Division II Stars fell to 2-2 overall with a Thursday loss to the Division I Knights.
Special teams played a big role in the game, with Colony scoring two power-play goals and a short-handed goal, and SoHi scoring short-handed.
The Knights went up 2-0 after the first period on goals by Adam Kara and Logan Lofland.
In the second period, Carsen Lantto scored with 9:15 left for a 3-0 lead.
The Stars cut it to 3-2 when Jace Appelhans scored with help from Andrew Arthur and Boone Theiler, and Silas Larsen scored on assists from Arthur and Appelhans.
With 3:54 left in the second, Lantto finished the scoring in the game with another goal.
Tanner Clyde stopped 27 for the Stars, while Malachi Mukaabya saved 18 for the Knights.
Stars 2, Warriors 2
The Division II Stars stand at 2-2-1 after the Friday tie with the Division I Warriors.
Penalties played a big role in the game, as Soldotna had 10 penalties for 31 minutes, while Wasilla had 2 for 4:00. SoHi’s goals were at even strength, while the Warriors scored on power plays.
With 13:54 left in the second, the Warriors went up 1-0 when Branson Starheim scored. With 4:42 left in the second, Dawson Lockwood, assisted by Silas Larsen, evened the score.
SoHi jumped on top just 41 seconds into the third when Aiden Burcham scored on an assist from Boone Theiler. With 7:25 to play, Karson McGrew equalized for the Warriors.
Jackson Purcell stopped 26 pucks for the Stars, while Cole Kite stopped 15 for Wasilla.
Hawks 3, Kardinals 2
The Kards fell to 2-3 overall after a tight game Friday with the defending Division II champion.
Kenai took the lead after the first period on an unassisted goal by Reagan Graves. Houston battled back with goals by Trenton Huber and Afanasy Efimov in the second period.
The Hawks then went up 3-1 with 4:29 left in the third when Andrey Reutov lit the lamp.
Kenai pulled the goalie and made it 3-2 with 1:01 left on a Landen Cialek strike, but a trip by the Kards with 40 seconds left kept Kenai from getting any more pressure on the Hawks net.
Evyn Witt made 26 saves for Kenai, while Dylan Shaffer stopped 16 for the Hawks.
Thursday
Kardinals 4, Huskies 1
Kenai 1 1 2 —4
Delta 0 0 1 —1
First period — 1. Kenai, Cialek (Martin), 12:13. Penalties — Kenai 1 for 2:00.
Second period — 2. Kenai, Liles (Calvert), 4:59. Penalties — Kenai 1 for 2:00.
Third period — 3. Kenai, Mese (Petty), 4:36; 4. Delta, Smith (Dehling), 4:42. Penalties — Delta 1 for 2:00.
Shots on goal — Kenai 18-16-14—38; Delta 6-1-5—12.
Goalies — Kenai, Swanson (12 shots, 11 saves); Delta, Bouziden (38 shots, 34 saves).
Soldotna 0 2 0 —2
Colony 2 2 0 —4
First period — 1. Colony, Kara (Kirk, Lantto), 9:44; 2. Colony, Lofland (McKenzie, Holman), pp, 13:51. Penalties — Soldotna 1 for 2:00.
Second period — 3. Colony, Lantto (Kara, Baldwin), pp, 5:45; 4. Soldotna, Appelhans (Arthur, Theiler), sh, 7:59; 5. Soldotna, Larsen (Arthur, Appelhans), 10:08; 6. Colony, Lantto (Holman, Wilson), sh, 11:06. Penalties — Sodotna 4 for 11:00; Colony 3 for 6:00.
Third period — none. Penalties — Soldotna 3 for 6:00; Colony 3 for 6:00.
Shots on goal — Soldotna 6-5-9—20; Colony 7-10-14—31.
Goalies — Soldotna, Clyde (30 shots, 27 saves); Colony, Mukaabya (20 shots, 18 saves).
Friday
Stars 2, Warriors 2
Wasilla 0 1 1 —2
Soldotna 0 1 1 —2
First period — none. Penalties — 2 for 4:00.
Second period — 1. Wasilla, Starheim (McGrew, Holler), pp, 1:06; 2. Soldotna, Lockwood (Larsen), 10:18. Penalties — Wasilla 2 for 4:00; Soldona 1 for 2:00.
Third period — 3. Soldotna, Burcham (Theiler), 0:41; 4. Wasilla, McGrew (Holler), 7:35. Penalties — Soldotna 6 for 23:00.
Shots on goal — Wasilla 6-11-11—28; Soldotna 3-10-4—17.
Goalies — Wasilla, Kite (17 shots, 15 saves); Soldotna, Purcell (28 shots, 26 saves).
Hawks 3, Kardinals 2
Houston 0 2 1 —3
Kenai 1 0 1 —2
First period — 1. Kenai, Graves (un.), 8:00. Penalties — Houston 1 for 5:00.
Second period — 2. Houston, Huber (Spain), n/a; 3. Houston, A. Efimov (Reutov), 13:36. Penalties — Houston 2 for 7:00; Kenai 1 for 2:00.
Third period — 4. Houston, Reutov (A. Efimov), 10:31; 5. Kenai, Cialek (un.), 13:59. Penalties — Kenai 3 for 6:00.
Shots on goal — Houston 9-6-14—29; Kenai 5-7-6—18.
Goalies — Houston, Shaffer (18 shots, 16 saves); Kenai, Witt (29 shots, 26 saves).
