The Chugiak boys hockey team continued its impressive campaign on Friday, defeating Colony 3-1 in the semifinals of the Division I Boys State Hockey Tournament at Menard Sports Center in Wasilla.
The victory pushed the Mustangs to 22-0-1 overall on the season. They will face off with West High on Saturday at 6 p.m. with a chance to secure both a state title and an unbeaten season.
Barrett Pelant got the Mustangs on the board in the first period at 4:18 with an unassisted shorthanded goal. Just over two minutes later, the Knights leveled the score at 1-1 with a power play goal.
Carsen Lantoo netted the goal with an assist from Joseph Kirk.
Chugiak took a 2-1 lead in the second period as Michael Maxey scored the go-ahead goal with assists from Pelant and Aiden McEwen.
The Mustangs got an empty-netter from Hunter Merrick in the closing second to make the final margin 3-1.
Chugiak goalie Daegen Love earned the win with 10 saves. Colony’s Malachi Mukaabya was solid in defeat, making 36 saves.
The Knights will face West Valley in the 3rd place game at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
West High 4, West Valley 1
West High scored a pair of goals in the third period to pull away from West Valley 4-1 on Friday and advance to the championship game.
Evan Fitzgerald scored the first goal of the third period for the Eagles, helping to push their lead to 3-1.
Then Austin Keim added a goal with five minutes remaining to make the final margin 4-1.
West goalie Michael Rush made 12 saves for the win.
Neither team scored in the first period, but there was a mad dash of scoring late in the second.
Paul Dittrich tallied a goal with 48.3 second remaining in the second to break the scoreless deadlock. West Valley bounced right back with Sean Middleton adding a goal with 14.9 remaining. West High took a 2-1 lead into the final intermission when Henry Shelton scored with less than a second remaining.
Consolation
South 4, Dimond 2
South used goals from four different players to topple Dimond in the consolation bracket Friday. Ethan Frison, Austin Wiita, Maddox Carr and Brody Melocik scored goalus for the Wolverines. The Lynx were led by Andrew Sturgeon and Dylan Ford, who each scored goals. South’s Cooper Kinnear made 26 saves to earn the win.
Wasilla 5, Soldotna 3
Wasilla bounced back from a heartbreaking loss on Thursday with a consolation round win Friday. The Warriors had five different players score goals. Sayer Sanders and Easton McCree notched goals in the third period which proved to be the difference.
Division I Boys Hockey Tournament
At Menard Sports Center
in Wasilla
Thursday’s results
First round
West 5, Soldotna 4
Colony 5, South 0
Chugiak 5, Dimond 2
West Valley 4, Wasilla 3 (OT)
Friday’s results
Consolation
South 4, Dimond 2
Wasilla 5, Soldotna 3
Semifinals
West 4, West Valley 2
Chugiak 3, Colony 1
Saturday’s games
4th/6th
South vs. Wasilla, noon
3rd/5th
West Valley vs. Colony, 3 p.m.
Championship
West High vs. Chugiak, 6 p.m.
Girls State Hockey Tournament
Dimond/West 3, Mat-Su Valley 1
After receiving a first round bye due the odd number of teams in the Alaska Girls High School Hockey Tournament, the top-seeded Dimond/West team didn’t show any signs of rust as they got out to an early 2-0 lead in the first period.
“We had a good start to the game, everybody came prepared, and all my teammates were really committed to make it to the championship and win,” freshman Hailey Murray said.
Both goals came courtesy of her with the first at the 13:09 mark and the second at the 5:25 mark. She nearly pulled off a hat trick with a third with 35 seconds left in the opening period but Mat-Su goalie Emily Christman made a great save before the puck could hit the back of the net.
“We had some good shots, she was right in the slot there, got a good rebound, got a pass from behind the net and buried it right away,” Dimond/West coach Brian Gross said of the goals. “We had a couple good looks and took advantage of them.”
Just when it seemed like Dimond/West was in firm control of the game, the Mat-Su Valley squad cut their lead in half with a goal from Kendall Ketchum late in the second period at the 2:22 mark. It was her third of the tournament.
“We knew the Valley was going to give us their best game,” Gross said. “They put up a good fight and made us work for it all the way to the final buzzer.”
Even after having a goal from Alexis Kindred waived off because one of their players were in the crease, Dimond/West kept its composure and Sasha Kleckner was able to get the puck in the back of the net a mere 34 seconds later at the 6:57 mark to put them back up by a pair of goals.
“They came back and I feel like everybody got nervous but once (Kleckner) got that third goal, we started picking up our game again,”Murray said.
The win punched their ticket to the state title game, marked their 11th straight win and kept their hopes of completing a perfect season alive for another day.
“Your goal is to make it to the championship game so that’s more of our focus than the undefeated streak but you can’t get one without the other at this point,” Gross said.
Fairbanks 3, South/Bartlett 2
The second semifinal bout featured an even more hardfought matchup and it went down to the wire with the deciding goal coming inside the final minute of the game.
Both teams scored a goal in the opening period with South/Bartlett drawing first blood at the 7:55 mark thanks to Allison Beloy finding the back of the net off an assist from Taylor Maddox. The Arctic Bears answered with just under four minutes left on the clock after Lilly Davies teamed up with Galilee Murray to knot the game with her third goal of the tournament.
Her teammate, Grace White, score the first of her two unassisted goals after just 17 seconds came off the clock to give Fairbanks their first lead only to see the game tied up again with just 11 seconds left in the period when Maddox got an assist from Nelly Clerc so that she could record her second goal of the tournament.
The game appeared destined to go into overtime after the third period was on the verge of being scoreless but White was able to break the tie and give her team a lead once again. She got the puck behind the goalie for a second goal with just 40 seconds left on the clock.
The Arctic Bears held on and punched their ticket to the title game where they will face Dimond/West at 3:15 p.m. at Ben Beoke Ice Arena.
Consolation
Chugiak/Eagle River 4, Kenai Peninsula 1
After getting blanked by Fairbanks on Thursday, Chugiak/Eagle River bounced back on Friday with a win in which three different players recorded a goal after none managed to do so in the previous game.
Myla Lubken scored a pair of unassisted goals in the first period and her teammates Daphne Gray and Kara Rahm added one a piece in the second. They were on their way to producing a shutout of their own until Lexi Taylor scored Kenai Peninsula’s first goal of the tournament at the 4:39 mark in the third period.
Girls State Hockey Tournament
at Ben Boeke Arena
Friday’s results
Consolation
Chugiak/Eagle River 4, Kenai Peninsula 1
Semifinals
Dimond/West 3, Mat-Su Valley 1
Fairbanks 3, South/Bartlett 2
Saturday’s games
Championship
Dimond/West vs. Fairbanks at 3:15 pm