The Soldotna hockey team moved to 5-1 in the Railbelt Conference and 8-5-2 overall with a 4-3 overtime victory over host Juneau-Douglas on Saturday.
Just 53 seconds into the eight-minute overtime, Soldotna’s Daniel Heath notched a goal for the victory. Marshall Deraeve assisted on the tally, after getting a pass from Gehret Medcoff.
Soldotna coach Anthony Zurfluh said in a text message after the game that Heath, Deraeve and Medcoff all had exceptional games.
Silas Larsen gave SoHi an 1-0 lead after the first period off assists from Jace Appelhans and Mykah Booth. With 8:16 left in the second period, Deraeve, with help from Medcoff and Heath, made it 2-0.
The Crimson Bears then scored three unanswered goals to take the lead. Sonny Monsef scored in the second period, while Brenden West and Anna Dale scored in the third period.
With 1:42 left in the game, Larsen got the Stars to overtime when he scored on assists from Boone Theiler and Booth.
Both Juneau goalie Caleb Friend and Soldotna goalie Jackson Purcell made 22 saves.
West 8, Kenai 1
The Eagles notched a nonconference victory at the Kenai Multi-Purpose Facility to drop the Kardinals to 6-12-0 overall.
West’s Henry Sholton had the lone goal of the first period, then Paul Dittrich put the Eagles up 2-0 in the second.
Kenai struck back when Landen Cialek scored on an assist from Logan Mese with 6:39 left in the second, but Kaden Abbett scored twice for West before the period was out.
In the third period, Chase Thompson had a pair of goals, and Owen Nelson and Evan Fitzgerald each lit the lamp, as West finished off a successful two-game trip to Kenai.
Michael Rust stopped 12 for the Eagles, while Seanna Swanson made 21 saves for the Kards.
Saturday
Stars 4, Crimson Bears 3, OT
Soldotna 1 1 1 1 —4
Juneau 0 1 2 0 —3
First period — 1. Soldotna, Applehans (Booth), 13:16. Penalties — Soldotna 1 for 2:00.
Second period — 2. Soldotna, Deraeve (Medcoff, Heath), 6:44; 3. Juneau, Monsef (Kovach, Bovitz), pp, 9:15. Penalties — Soldotna 3 for 6:00; Juneau 1 for 2:00.
Third period — 4. Juneau, West (Moller), 2:39; 5. Juneau, Dale (Moller), 3:41; 6. Soldotna, Larsen (Theiler, Booth), 13:18. Penalties — Soldotna 2 for 4:00.
Overtime — 7. Soldotna, Heath (Dereave, Medcoff), 0:53. Penalties — none.
Shots on goal — Soldotna 8-7-10-1—26; Juneau 6-9-10-0—25.
Goalies — Soldotna, Purcell (25 shots, 22 saves); Juneau, Friend (26 shots, 22 saves).
Eagles 8, Kardinals 1
West 1 3 4 —8
Kenai 0 1 0 —1
First period — 1. West, Sholton (Circosta), 11:09. Penalties — West 2 for 4:00; Kenai 3 for 6:00.
Second period — 2. West, Dittrich (Mcilroy), 5:10; 3. Kenai, Cialek (Mese), 8:21; 4. West, Abbett (Doniere, Circosta), 9:58; 5. West, Abbett (Melson), 13:05. Penalties — West 1 for 2:00; Kenai 3 for 6:00.
Third period — 6. West, Thompson (un.), 3:24; 7. West, Melson (Abbett, Circosta), 4:26; 8. West, Thompson (Sholton), 5:19; 9. West, Fitzgerald (Sholton), 7:29. Penalties — West 4 for 8:00; Kenai 4 for 8:00.
Shots on goal — West 5-12-12—29; Kenai 7-4-2—13.
Goalies — West, Rust (13 shots, 12 saves); Kenai, Swanson (29 shots, 21 saves).
