The Soldotna hockey team opened the Big Lake Lions Classic with a 3-2 overtime victory over Wasilla on Thursday.
The Stars, a Division II school, were able to top the Division I Warriors to move to 6-3 overall. SoHi moves to the semifinals of the tournament, facing Palmer at 7:15 p.m. Friday.
With 6:55 left in overtime, Josh O’Lena scored on assists from Silas Larsen and Aiden Burcham to give the Stars the victory.
Soldotna head coach Anthony Zurfluh said by text message that the team played hard to get the win and goalie Ayden See stood on his head. See had 23 saves on 25 shots, while Philip Brevogel stopped 17 of 20 for the Warriors.
Soldotna got out front just over four minutes in to the game when Gehret Medcoff scored on an assist from Burcham. In the second period, Wasilla tied the game on a strike from Dylan Dubie.
The Stars nosed out ahead again with 10:11 left in the game when Larsen scored on an assist from Dylan Dahlgren. The Warriors forced overtime on a Roman Holler power-play goal with 6:59 left in regulation.
Homer 2, Juneau 2
The Mariners and Crimson Bears played to a tie in Railbelt Conference action Thursday at Kevin Bell Ice Arena in Homer.
Micah Williamson got Homer the tie when he scored unassisted with 4:03 left in the third period to knot the game at 2.
Juneau had opened up a 2-0 lead in the second period. Sam Bovitz scored with 9:40 left in the second on an assist from Fin Shiber and Shiber scored with 6:31 left in the second period on an assist from Andre Peirovi.
Homer began its comeback with 21 seconds left in the second period, when Casey Otis lit the lamp with help from Kazden Stineff and Hunter Green.
Keegan Strong made 32 saves for the Mariners, while Mason Sooter stopped 24 for the Crimson Bears.
Juneau stays in Homer for a 7 p.m. game today before traveling north to face Kenai Central at noon Saturday at the Kenai Multi-Purpose Facility.
Thursday
Stars 3, Warriors 2, OT
Soldotna 1 0 1 1 —3
Wasilla 0 1 1 0 —2
First period — 1. Soldotna, Medcoff (Burcham), 4:01. Penalties — Soldotna 1 for 2:00.
Second period — 2. Wasilla, Dubie (Hagel), 11:19. Penalties — Soldotna 1 for 2:00.
Third period — 3. Soldotna, Larsen (Dahlgren), 4:49; 4. Wasilla, Holler (Petersen, Woolcott), 8:01. Penalties — Soldotna 2 for 4:00; Wasilla 1 for 2:00.
Overtime — 5. Soldotna, O’Lena (Larsen, Burcham), 1:05. Penalties — none.
Shots on goal — Soldotna 8-2-8-2—20; Wasilla 4-14-7-0—25.
Goalies — Soldotna, See (25 shots, 23 saves); Wasilla, Brevogel (20 shots, 17 saves).
Mariners 2, Crimson Bears 2
Juneau 0 2 0 0 —2
Homer 0 1 1 0 —2
First period — none. Penalties — none.
Second period — 1. Juneau, Bovitz (Shiber), 5:20; 2. Juneau, Shiber (Peirovi), 8:29; 3. Homer, Otis (Stineff, Green), 14:39. Penalties — Juneau 2 for 4:00; Homer 1 for 2:00.
Third period — 4. Homer, Williamson (un.), 10:57. Penalties — Juneau 2 for 4:00; Homer 1 for 2:00.
Shots on goal — Juneau 9-9-11-5—34; Homer 10-8-5-3—26.
Goalies — Juneau, Sooter (26 shots, 24 saves); Homer, Strong (34 shots, 32 saves).
