The Kenai Central hockey team won the Peninsula Ice Challenge with a 6-5 overtime victory over Soldotna on Saturday at the Kenai Multi-Purpose Facility in Kenai.
Avery Martin, assisted by Logan Mese and Daniel Shelden, scored the game-winner with 2 minutes, 52 seconds, left in the overtime period.
The two local squads were both 2-0 in the round-robin tournament, making the Saturday game a championship game.
The game went back and forth all evening after a scoreless first period. Jacob Wait got the Kards on the board in the second period, but Soldotna answered with goals by Boone Theiler and Gehret Medcoff to lead 2-1 heading to the third period.
Just 1:38 into the final frame, Shelden had the score tied at 2, but a little over a minute later Aiden Burcham had Soldotna back in the lead.
Kenai quickly struck back, with Jacob Begich scoring with 11:41 left in the game and Landen Cialek scoring with 11:18 remaining for a 4-3 lead. Silas Larsen scored 35 seconds after Cialek’s tally to tie things up.
The Stars took the lead with 8:57 left in the game on a goal by Daniel Heath. Shelden tied the score with 2:52 to play to set up the overtime.
Ayden See stopped 31 for the Stars, while Carson Koppes made 29 saves for the Kardinals.
The tournament title completed quite the weekend for the Shelden family. While Daniel helped his father and Kenai’s head coach, Scott, to the title, Anna Shelden, Scott’s daughter, scored her first collegiate goal Friday.
Anna, a freshman forward for Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, scored in the second period of a 5-3 loss to Quinnipiac. Shelden was playing in her third game for Brown.
Friday, the Stars moved to 2-0 at the Ice Challenge by topping Tri-Valley 12-2.
Andrew Arthur paced the Stars with four goals, while Silas Larsen had a hat trick and Daniel Heath had a pair of goals. Marshall DeRaeve, Boone Theiler and Gehret Medcoff added tallies for the Stars.
Tanner Clyde stopped 3 of 5 shots for the Stars, while Wyatt Juyzack had 51 saves on 63 shots for Tri-Valley.
Friday, the Kards joined the Stars at 2-0 by topping Delta Junction 5-0.
Landen Cialek keyed the victory by collecting a hat trick in the first 7 minutes, 4 seconds, of the game.
Carson Koppes and Kate Harris each made eight saves to combine on the shutout. Jordan Bouziden stopped 27 for the Huskies.
Jacob Wait added a goal in the first period for the Kardinals. Daniel Shelden completed the scoring in the third period.
Homer 7, Kodiak 0
The host Mariners notched the Friday victory behind a 32-save shutout from Keegan Strong.
Oskar Klausner and Noah Baxter combined to save 24 for the Bears.
Hunter Green scored twice for the Mariners, while Kazden Stineff, Micah Williamson, Brock Barth, Seamus Hatton and Casey Otis added tallies.
Friday
Stars 12, Warriors 2
Tri-Valley 1 1 0 —2
Soldotna 3 4 5 —12
First period — 1. Soldotna, Larsen (O’Lena), 1:25; 2. Soldotna, Heath (Medcoff), 3:16; 3. Soldotna, Arthur (Zurfluh, Miller), 5:10; 4. Tri-Valley, Stickle (J. Renshaw), 9:03. Penalties — Soldotna 2 for 4:00.
Second period — 5. Soldotna, Larsen (Arthur), 0:46; 6. Soldotna, DeRaeve (Burcham), 7:57; 7. Tri-Valley, Graham (J. Renshaw), 8:33; 8. Soldotna, Arthur (un.), 11:24; 9. Soldotna, Arthur (Burcham, Howell), 13:55. Penalties — Tri-Valley 2 for 4:00; Soldotna 3 for 6:00.
Third period — 10. Soldotna, Medcoff (Burcham, Lockwood), 0:47; 11. Soldotna, Larsen (O’Lena, Burcham), 3:03; 12. Soldotna, Heath (un.), 3:26; 13. Soldotna, Theiler (Larsen, Burcham), 4:40; 14. Soldotna, Arthur (Burcham), 5:28. Penalties — Tri-Valley 1 for 2:00; Soldotna 1 for 2:00.
Shots on goal — Tri-Valley 3-2-0—5; Soldotna 27-13-23—63.
Goalies — Tri-Valley, Juyzack (63 shots, 51 saves); Soldotna, Clyde (5 shots, 3 saves).
Kardinals 5, Huskies 0
Delta 0 0 0 —0
Kenai 4 0 1 —5
First period — 1. Kenai, Cialek (un.), 0:50; 2. Kenai, Cialek (Begich), 1:23; 3. Kenai, Cialek (Petty, Begich), 7:04; 4. Kenai, Wait (Vann), 12:32. Penalties — Kenai 1 for 2:00.
Second period — none. Penalties — Kenai 1 for 2:00.
Third period — 5. Kenai, Shelden (Mese, Martinez), 13:14. Penalties — Delta 1 for 2:00; Kenai 4 for 8:00.
Shots on goal — Delta 3-5-8—16; Kenai 16-4-12—32.
Goalies — Delta, Bouziden (32 shots, 27 saves); Kenai, Koppes (8 shots, 8 saves), Harris (8 shots, 8 saves).
Mariners 7, Bears 0
Kodiak 0 0 0 —0
Homer 3 2 2 —7
First period — 1. Homer, Stineff (un.), 6:27; 2. Homer, Williamson (Otis, Drake), 11:32; 3. Homer, Barth (Reutov, Green), 13:00. Penalties — Kodiak 1 for 2:00; Homer 1 for 2:00.
Second period — 4. Homer, Hatton (un.), 4:41; 5. Homer, Green (Pitzman), 13:36. Penalties — Kodiak 3 for 6:00; Homer 1 for 2:00.
Third period — 6. Homer, Otis (Williamson, Green), 0:51; 7. Homer, Green (Reutov), 3:13. Penalties — Kodiak 1 for 2:00.
Shots on goal — Kodiak 13-7-12—32; Homer 11-8-12—31.
Goalies — Kodiak, Klausner, N. Baxter (31 shots, 24 saves); Homer, Strong (32 shots, 32 saves).
Saturday
Kardinals 6, Stars 5, OT
Soldotna 0 2 3 0 —5
Kenai 0 1 4 1 —6
First period — none. Penalties — Soldotna 3 for 6:00.
Second period — 1. Kenai, Wait (Graves), 1:52; 2. Soldotna, Theiler (O’Lena, Burham), 2:55; 3. Soldotna, Medcoff (un.), 11:01. Penalties — Soldotna 1 for 2:00; Kenai 1 for 2:00.
Third period — 4. Kenai, Shelden (Mese, Martin), 1:38; 5. Soldotna, Burcham (Larsen, O’Lena), 2:57; 6. Kenai, Begich (Graves), 3:19; 7. Kenai, Cialek (Begich), 3:42; 8. Soldotna, Larsen (Arthur, Burcham), 4:17; 9. Soldotna, Heath (Medcoff), 6:03; 10. Kenai, Shelden (Begich, Mese), 12:46. Penalties — Soldotna 7 for 16:00; Kenai 1 for 2:00.
Shots on goal — Soldotna 10-12-11-1—34; Kenai 8-12-13-4—37.
Goalies — Soldotna, See (37 shots, 31 saves); Kenai, Koppes (34 shots, 29 saves).
