KPHA squad loses to Illinois in overtime

The Kenai Peninsula Hockey Association Ice Hawks Tier II Girls 14U team dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to the Illinois Nationals on Friday at the USA Hockey National Championships in Lansing, Michigan.
With a Saturday game against the New Jersey Colonials remaining in pool play, KPHA is in third in its pool. The Florida Lady Vipers are on top at 2-0-0, while the Cape Cod Storm of Massachusetts is 1-0-1, good for four points.
The Ice Hawks, at 0-1-0, can still catch the Storm for second in the bracket if they win Saturday and the Storm loses. The problem is the Storm are at plus-4 goal differential, while KPHA is at minus-2.
The Ice Hawks twice had the lead Friday, but couldn’t make it stick.
KPHA’s Journey Miller had the lone goal of the first period, assisted by Kylan Lakshas.
The Falcons evened the ledger with a Michelle Byker strike in the second, but Anna Shelden scored unassisted as KPHA again put its nose out front in the second period.
However, Cecily Hetzel tallied in the third period to send the game to overtime. There, Byker’s second goal of the game won it. Mackenzi Powell made eight saves for the Ice Hawks, while Amanda Peter had 10 saves for the Falcons.