The Homer hockey team defeated Kenai Central 11-7 on Thursday in the opening round of the Peninsula Ice Challenge at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex.

The Mariners took a 3-0 lead after the first period but the Kardinals came back to tie the game in the third period before Homer ran away again in a wild period that saw Homer scored six times and Kenai score three times.

Garrett Butcher had four goals for Homer, while Tim Blakely had three and Charlie Menke and Dimitry Kuzmin had two apiece.

Service 4, Soldotna 1

The Cougars started the tournament with a victory over the Stars.

Service took a 1-0 lead in the first period, but Cameron Knowlton answered with a goal just seconds later to tie the game.

Service would score once before the end of the first, then tack on goals in the second and third periods for the final score.

The Cougars took 38 shots on net, while Soldotna took 13. Billy Yoder made 34 saves for the Stars, while Roman Klancher had 12 saves for the Cougars.

The tournament continues today and Saturday at the sports complex. Today, Kenai plays Service at 1:30 p.m. and Homer plays SoHi at 4 p.m.

Saturday, Homer faces Service at 1:30 p.m., while Kenai and Soldotna face off at 4 p.m.