In a seesaw battle, West High tops Soldotna in state hockey tournament’s Division I opening round

WASILLA — Kaden Abbott thought he had scored the decider.

The West High junior forward jammed in a go-ahead goal with 7:39 remaining in the third period, giving his Eagles a 4-3 advantage over Soldotna at the Division I State Hockey Tournament.

But Soldotna, winner of the Division II title last weekend, made Abbott turn the trick twice.

After the Stars tied it at 4-4, Abbott scored the game-winner with just 2:38 remaining to push the Eagles into the semifinals with a 5-4 victory.

“I got that one and I was like ‘Nice, game-winner,’” Abbott said with a laugh. “And they scored (to tie it 4-4) and I was like ‘Gotta do it again.’”

That goal ended what was a seesaw game between the two teams in the opening game of the tournament at Menard Sports Center.

Soldotna took a 1-0 lead in the first period with a goal by Jace Appelhans. But West rattled off three straight — one in the final minute of the first period and two more in the second to take a 3-1 lead.

Austin Keim, Paul Dittrich and Henrey Sohlten each scored to give the Eagles what appeared to be a commanding lead.

But back came the Stars, who were somewhat controversially were seeded No. 2 in the tournament after earning a bid by winning the DII tournament.

West head coach Rob Larkey said regardless of seed, the Stars proved they belonged.

“No disrespect to any team,” he said. “If a team earns it, they deserve to be here, and we’re glad to have them.”

Gehret Medcoff scored a goal, followed by one from Aiden Burcham to tie the game at 3-3 entering the third period.

“They got a little more energy and they worked hard for it,” Larkey said. “They just didn’t quit.”

That’s where it sat until Abbott delivered his first goal.

“First games of the tournament are always the hardest because you’ve got to get warmed up,” Abbott said. “Once I got in my shifts and started rolling, I started getting in my groove.”

Appelhans notched his second of the game to make it 4-4, with a snapshot beating West goalie Michael Rush on the glove side.

Owen Melson provided a nifty assist on the game-winner for West, allowing Abbott to shovel the puck in on the near side.

Colony 5, South 0

Colony played its most complete game of the season in Thursday’s first round, according to head coach Chris Yaskus.

The Knights played relatively mistake-free hockey and had four different players notch goals, and goalie Malachi Mukaabya made 22 saves for the shutout.

“It was nice to see us finally put three periods together,” Yaskus said. “Stayed out of the box, which I think was the first time this year we’ve had zero penalties, which definitely helps. But played awesome for three full periods.”

Both teams were feeling out the first period, but Colony broke the tie in the first period with Jacob Seward-Jenski scoring on a rebound for a 1-0 Colony advantage entering the second period.

Carsen Lantto scored the first of his two goals in the second period, the first of three Knights’ goals. Joseph Kirk and Adam Kara added second-period goals.

“Getting the first one is nice,” Yaskus said. “That’s a breath of fresh air for everyone, and then they didn’t let up and just kept on going.”

Colony plays Chugiak at 7 p.m. in Friday’s second semifinal.

Playing what was in essence a home game was a nice advantage for Colony, Yaskus said.

“Home rink is nice,” he said. “This is the first time that we’ve been seeded in the top half so we’re on the home side of the rink. There’s a level of familiarity there.”

Chugiak 5, Dimond 2

Chugiak, the top-seed and unbeaten on the season, continued its streak in the first round, taking a 5-2 win over Dimond. Ajay Johnson scored a pair of goals and added two assists, while Fischer Sims had a goal and an assist for the Mustangs.

Christopher Horton and Jensen Shafer notched goals for the Lynx in defeat.

West Valley 4, Wasilla 3 (OT)

West Valley’s Darshan Nautiyal scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner in overtime to lead West Valley to a 4-3 win over Wasilla in Thursday’s final game. Nautiyal tallied a first-period goal to give West Valley a 1-0 lead and also added an assist in the second period. His game-winner at 4:30 of overtime was unassisted. West Valley plays Anchorage’s West High on Friday at 4 p.m. in the first semifinal.

Girls State Hockey Tournament

South/Bartlett 1, Kenai Peninsula 0

For the first time in seven years, Alaska’s girls high school hockey programs are holding a state tournament. The first game of the tournament at Ben Boeke Arena featured a low-scoring affair with just one goal between the two teams. After a scoreless first two periods, Taylor Maddox was able to find the back of the net at the 10:29 mark in the third period for the only goal of the game off an assist from Leyla Tieman.

“I think we were generating some good chances, and I told the team that they just needed to keep that pressure up,” Bartlett/South head coach Bryce Akagi said. “We made the adjustment to make sure we had someone in front of the net. It’s hard to score when you’re not there and they were able to feed it in front and get a goal.”

Given that his team’s season mostly consisted of games against Anchorage teams due to regular season travel restrictions, he didn’t know what to expect.

“We had no idea what they’d be doing but we just had to come out and play our game,” Akagi said.

Mat-Su Valley 4, Service/East 0

Made up of girls from Houston, Palmer, Wasilla, and Colony, the Matanuska Valley team scored all the goals they would end up needing to win in the first period courtesy of Kendall Ketchum. Her first came off an assist from Molly Matson, and the second was unassisted.

“I thought they played pretty well,” Valley coach Olivia Matson said. “We had good power plays, defense played really well at every opportunity they had coming into the zone, stick on stick, and just took their opportunities away.”

The Valley team kept the pressure on offensively throughout the game, even when they were short-handed on the ice, and ended up outshooting their opponent more than double, at 35-16. Their other two goals came from Alexa Mills in the second period at the 8:25 mark and Tatum Harbour in the third at 12:26.

Fairbanks 8, Chugiak/Eagle River 0

The final game of the first round featured a show of force from the northernmost team as the Arctic Bears from Fairbanks dispatched Chugiak/Eagle River in a shutout. They recorded multiple goals in each period, including a trio in both the second and third.

Emily Herron scored the first two in the opening period and pulled off the hat trick by scoring a third in the final period. Lilly Davies also scored multiple goals, with her first coming in the second and the other in the third period.