The 2019 Alaska Army National Guard Stars & Stripes Showdown Hockey Tournament, featuring three days of round-robin hockey at the Palmer MTA Events Center, opened on Thursday with the Kenai Kardinals and Soldotna Stars in first-round action.
Teams include: Kenai, SoHi, Colony, Wasilla, West Valley and North Pole, Palmer and Dimond.
Thursday Game Results
Colony 3 – KCHS 1
The Kenai Kardinals opened the tournament with a 3-1 loss to the Colony Knights in a game closer than the score.
Kenai trailed 1-0 after one period, allowing a Knight goal with only :52 seconds remaining in the period. The Kardinals tied the game in the second period with a Reagan Graves goal with only a minute and a half remaining in the second. Tied at 1-1 five minutes into the third period, Kenai allowed two goals in a five minute run and could not find the net in the final period. Final Score: Colony 3, Kenai 1.
Jackson Cross in goal for Kenai recorded 41 saves on 44 shots; Colony’s Bryant Marks recorded 26 saves on 27 shots.
Kenai faces-off against North Pole on Friday at 2:15 p.m.
SoHi 7 – West Valley 5
The Soldotna Stars and West Valley Wolfpack combined in a scoring-fest with the Stars outlasting the Wolfpack 7-5.
SoHi opened the scoring with an Alex Montague , power-play goal just 2:15 into the game. West Valley scored midway through the period and SoHi’s Dylan Walton answered to give the Stars a 2-1 lead.
West Valley opened the second period with a power-play goal :27 seconds into the period and added a go-ahead goal at 5:15 of the second. The Stars Galen Brantley III tied the game at 3-3; then West Valley retook the lead on a short-handed goal. The Stars closed the second period scoring with goals from Wyatt Medcoff, Galen Brantley and Wyatt Medcoff for a 6-4 lead.
The third period opened with a goal by Alex Montague just :14 seconds in for a 7-4 SoHi lead. A final West Valley goal closed the scoring. Final Score: SoHi 7, West Valley 5.
Josh Tree recorded 14 saves on 19 shots for the Stars; Luke Hartman recorded 28 saves on 35 shots for the Wolfpack.
SoHi faces Wasilla in the 4:15 p.m. game on Friday.
Tournament Schedule
Friday, November 8
…2:15 p.m. KCHS vs North Pole
…4:15 p.m. SoHi vs Wasilla
Saturday, November 9
…11 a.m. SoHi vs Colony
…3:00 p.m. KCHS vs West Valley
All games will be broadcast on ESPN 1140AM and streamed live on www.radiokenai.com
