Palmer defeats Soldotna for Division II state hockey title

Senior Elijah Von Gunten scored four goals as Palmer defeated Soldotna 9-1 to win the Division II state hockey championship Saturday at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex.

“It’s huge for those guys, the 20 kids on the ice,” said Palmer head coach Rusty Belanger, in his second year as head coach and eighth with the program. “It’s huge for Palmer. It’s huge for the school itself, you know?

“They peaked at the right time.”

The Moose add the title to a Division II crown in 2019 and a 1989 state title back when hockey was single classification. The Stars came up short in the state final for a second straight year after winning the school’s first state title in 2023.

Also Saturday, No. 6 seed Juneau-Douglas: Yadaa.at Kale defeated No. 5 Kenai 5-3 for third place, and No. 3 seed Houston topped No. 8 Delta 10-2 for fourth place.

Palmer was a dominant force all season, finishing with just five losses. Top seed Soldotna handed No. 2 Palmer two of those losses in the three games between the clubs — the only losses the Moose took to a Division II opponent all season.

Add in the fact that Soldotna had defeated Palmer in the state semifinals the last two years, and the 12 seniors for the Moose definitely came into Saturday focused.

“We knew that, the seniors, this was our last three games,” Von Gunten said. “We’ve got to bring it if we want to win this thing.”

Palmer had defeated SoHi 7-1 at the sports complex in early December in a game where the Stars were not physical. SoHi then turned up the physicality in topping Palmer 4-1 in mid-January.

“We knew that’s how we were going to beat them — play physical,” Soldotna head coach Anthony Zurfluh said.

The Moose were ready, particularly after watching Soldotna empty the energy tank in a 2-1 overtime victory over Kenai on Friday night.

“We knew we were gonna kick their butt,” Von Gunten said. “They were kind of not playing well yesterday against Kenai, so we came in with our heads high knowing we were going to bring it to them.”

The first period saw three minors, a five-minute major and a game disqualification for Palmer, while Soldotna had two minors.

Palmer took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Von Gunten and Bryce Horacek, while Daniel Heath brought it back to 2-1 for Soldotna before the end of the period.

In the second period, Kinan Greco made it 3-1, but goalie Brycen Clyde kept SoHi in the game. The Stars were outshot 24-8 in the first two periods and 43-14 for the game.

Clyde ended up with 34 saves, while Emily Christman had 13 for Palmer.

“We kind of felt like we could keep chipping away at them, but we couldn’t get anything rolling, and they just kept punishing us,” Zurfluh said.

The coach said key players Draiden Mullican, Zack Zurfluh, Noah Crabtree, Luke Larsen and Nathan Hawkins all had various injuries sustained during the game.

Even though Palmer was controlling the game, a two-goal lead is never a comfortable thing on which to sit.

“I knew if we got the next goal, it would be the dagger,” Belanger said. “It was, and it just deflated from there.”

Von Gunten put the Moose up 4-1 with 9:36 left in the game. By the time he completed his hat trick with 7:20 to play, Kaleb Von Gunten and Zidane Dietz had also scored and the Moose were up 7-1.

As SoHi continued to get in penalty trouble, Palmer tacked on goals by Tavian Mukaabya and the fourth by Elijah Von Gunten.

“It’s not me,” Von Gunten said. “It’s the Lord and I praise him for it, and how great my teammates are for setting me up.”

While Von Gunten got the starring role, Belanger said the key to the team peaking was realizing that they were a body, and a body doesn’t work unless all parts of it are working.

“We decided we weren’t here for ourselves,” said Belanger, who thanked his wife, Lynn, for letting him spend so much time coaching hockey. “We were here for each other.

“It was just like a switch going on. We’ve been playing great hockey.”

Belanger said the only shame is the Division II winner no longer gets a spot in the Division I tournament, and he’d love to see what Palmer could to at that event.

Zurfluh said the Stars still had a successful season.

“I’m proud of my guys for what they did and how far we’ve come,” he said. “I would have never guessed we’d be in this game at the beginning of the season.

“The heart we showed to get to this game and be able to beat them a few times this year means a lot.”

The coach said the season was extra special because it was the senior year for his son, Zack Zurfluh, who unfortunately ended the game in the emergency room with an upper body injury. Anthony has coached Zack and his friends since they were 6 years old.

“To see them come all the way through, it’s awesome,” Zurfluh said.

Juneau 5, Kenai 3

The Crimson Bears continued to show they are a force to be reckoned with at Division II by following up a runner-up finish at state in 2023 and a fourth place in 2024 with a third place this season.

Juneau also has built a great home environment, packing the rink for a Jan. 24 game against Kenai.

“Southeast is a basketball region, right?” Juneau head coach Matt Boline said. “We had some basketball people saying, now you’re turning it into a hockey town.

“That’s a pretty good compliment.”

Boline also has a lot of respect for Kenai. He said on that trip, the Kardinals were playing hacky sack when Boline’s 6-year-old son approached.

“He just kind of got in there with them, and Logan Mese and Avery Martin moved aside, let him stand right next to them and join the game,” Boline said. “I think it shows the character and class that team has.”

Mese started the scoring in the game with the only goal of the first period.

It would be the last time the three-time Northern Lights Conference MVP would light the lamp for the Kardinals in his career.

“From the start, he’s carried all that pressure and everything well,” Kenai coach Steve Hallam said. “Him and Avery too.

“Them coming back, because they play at such a high level, I’m sure there’s a lot of other things they could have done. It speaks to their leadership of the program.”

The scoring picked up in the second period. Elliot Welch tied it for Juneau, Martin put the Kardinals up 2-1, Lucas Bovitz tied it at 2, Emilio Holbrook put the Crimson Bears up 3-2 and William Howard tied the game headed to the third period.

In the third period, Zander Smith scored with 8:42 to give the Crimson Bears the lead for good. Dylan Sowa iced the game by scoring on the empty net for his seventh goal of the tournament.

Caleb Friend had 23 saves for Juneau, while Evyn Witt stopped 28 for Kenai.

Boline said he loses senior captains Bovitz, Sowa and Holbrook.

“They’ve been absolute, consummate leaders the whole time,” he said. “I started coaching those kids when they were 4 or 5 years old.

“They’ve always been the way they are.”

Boline said Friend has been starting games for four years in net, while defensemen Loren Platt and Welch have also been key. Welch is a senior and Platt is a junior.

Hallam said it was not easy coming back after losing 2-1 to SoHi in overtime Friday.

“After an emotional night like last night, I’m proud of how they played,” the first-year head coach said. “They never gave up late.

“There’s so much heart in these guys and they relied on a lot of that today.”

Besides Mese and Martin, Hallam loses some big senior contributors including Sawyer Vann, Cole Langham and Gavin Liles.

“They’re just good hockey players and good people,” Hallam said. “I’m able to trust them and know they’re doing the right things.

“It’s just been huge. I’m sad to see them all go.”

Houston 10, Delta 2

After winning the tournament in 2022 and 2024 and finishing third in 2023, the Hawks secured fourth place by topping the Huskies.

Houston’s Daniel Matveev has been at the center of that success and finished his career with four more goals.

Domnin Efimov and Andrey Efimov each scored twice for the Hawks, while Zasim Konev and John Natekin added tallies.

Clara Creviston and Isabella Baker scored for Delta.

Dylan Shaffer stopped 20 for the Hawks, while Anthony White had 30 saves for Delta.

Saturday

First National Cup

Division II state hockey tournament

All-tournament team: Dylan Sowa, Juneau; Daniel Heath, Soldotna; Logan Mese, Kenai; Zasim Konev, Houston; Daniel Matveev, Houston; Kinan Greco, Palmer; Clara Creviston, Delta; Noah Crabtree, Soldotna; Elijah Von Gunten, Palmer; Evyn Witt, Kenai; Lucas Bovitz, Juneau; Bryce Horacek, Palmer.

Academic Award: Soldotna.

Sportsmanship Award: Delta.

3rd/5th place game

Crimson Bears 5, Kardinals 3

Ken 1 2 0 —3

Jun 0 3 2 —5

First period — 1. Kenai, Mese (Howard), 0:59. Penalties — Juneau 1 for 2:00.

Second period — 2. Juneau, Welch (Phelps), 4:53. 3. Kenai, Martin (un.), 7:23. 4. Juneau, Bovitz (Sowa, Smith), 7:55. 5. Juneau, Holbrook (Sowa), pp, 10:40. 6. Kenai, Howard (Martin), 11:02. Penalties — Kenai 2 for 4:00.

Third period — 7. Juneau, Smith (Sowa, Platt), 6:18. 8. Juneau, Sowa (Nelson), en, 13:56. Penalties — Kenai 1 for 2:00.

Shots on goal — Juneau 12-11-10—33; Kenai 6-10-10—26.

Goalies — Juneau, Friend (26 shots, 23 saves); Kenai, Witt (33 shots, 28 saves).

Power plays — Kenai 0 for 1; Juneau 1 for 3.

Championship

Moose 9, Stars 1

Pal 2 1 6 —9

Sol 1 0 0 —1

First period — 1. Palmer, E. Von Gunten (Greco, Horacek), 1:06. 2. Palmer, Horacek (Greco, K. Von Gunten), 7:00. 3. Soldotna, Heath (Crabtree, DeRaeve), 10:32. Penalties — Palmer 5 for 21:00; Soldotna 2 for 4:00.

Second period — 4. Palmer, Greco (E. Von Gunten, Dietz), 2:22. Penalties — Palmer 1 for 2:00; Soldotna 2 for 4:00.

Third period — 5. Palmer, E. Von Gunten (Horacek), 5:24. 6. Palmer, Dietz (K. Von Gunten), 6:14. 7. Palmer, K. Von Gunten (E. Von Gunten, Kinneen), 7:27. 8. Palmer, E. Von Gunten (Horacek), 7:40. 9. Palmer, Mukaabya (Ringler), 9:21. 10. Palmer, Von Gunten (Greco, Horacek), 12:45. Penalties — Palmer 2 for 4:00; Soldotna 8 for 27:00.

Shots on goal — Palmer 13-11-19—43; Soldotna 4-4-6—14.

Goalies — Palmer, Christman (14 shots, 13 saves); Soldotna, Clyde (43 shots, 34 saves).