The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears hockey team finished off its conference season with a double loss this weekend on home ice against the traveling Soldotna High School Stars.
However, JDHS head coach Matthew Boline said he was proud of how the team played and said he’s confident in the team’s abilities to bounce back after a 3-1 defeat Friday and a narrow loss on Saturday.
“We kept in the game and they’re a good team so it shows us where we’re at,” he said. “It was a good match and we did things really well — I’m excited for the rest of the season.”
The losses put JDHS in a 4-4 conference position and in the third spot overall in the conference.
Saturday’s game started off fast with both teams fighting hard in the first period but no shots made it past the goalies. The 0-0 score didn’t change until the last two minutes of the period when Soldotna’s Silas Larson gave the stars a lead of 1-0 to finish off the first period.
The second period was filled with a scattering of penalties by both teams and it wasn’t until over halfway through the period that Soldotna’s Marshall Deraeve snagged another goal for the Stars, giving the team a 2-0 lead. However, that didn’t last long with JDHS junior Sonny Monsef scoring the Crimson Bears’ first goal of the night just two minutes later on a power play.
The period ended 2-1 with Soldotna still holding the lead.
Senior assistant captain Brandon Campbell chases the puck during the first period of Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears hockey game against the Soldotna High School Stars on Saturday. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Going into the third period, both teams were noticeably getting tired, but that didn’t seem to stop JDHS from nearly completing a comeback. Just under halfway through the period JDHS senior Brendon West secured a goal and tied up the game 2-2. Less than a minute later JDHS senior assistant captain Anna Dale also scored to bring the Crimson Bears into a 3-2 lead with a little over half the period left.
The last 10 minutes of the game saw numerous shots on the net by both teams, but the score remained the same until the last two minutes when Soldotna’s Larson pulled through with a third goal, tying up the game 3-3 to end the period.
A fan shout during the overtime period at the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears hockey game against the Soldotna High School Stars on Saturday. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
The teams went into an eight-minute overtime round, though it only lasted less than two minutes when Soldotna’s Mykah Booth shot the game-winning goal, closing out the team’s weekend with a second win.
Despite the losses, Dale said both teams played well and she’s hopeful looking toward the rest of the season.
“I think we played and competed really well, we fought the entire game and really stepped up and worked as a team,” Dale said. “It’s not the outcome we hoped for, but it makes us strong and they’re a good team.”
JDHS still has a few games before the state tournament teams are announced. Next, the Crimson Bears will travel to Big Lake during Jan. 20-21 to compete against The Houston Hawks. The next home games are scheduled for Jan. 27-28 against the Tri-Valley Warriors.
• Contact reporter Clarise Larson at clarise.larson@juneauempire.com or (651)-528-1807. Follow her on Twitter at @clariselarson.
