It took nearly the entire weekend for Juneau-Douglas High School hockey to get on the scoreboard against visiting Monroe Catholic, but with a minute left in its second game against the powerhouse Fairbanks school, the Crimson Bears managed to score.
Senior forward Quin Gist found the puck at the right faceoff spot and spied an open top shelf.
“I was coming up toward the red line, just looking to chip it in the zone, and I chipped it off their player,” Gist said of his unassisted goal. “I grabbed the puck, had time and space and saw the goalie was giving me the upper right corner so I picked that spot. … We were working toward that one.”
Gist slotted in his unassisted consolation goal with 58 seconds left in the third period, closing scoring 5-1 Sunday morning. Saturday’s game saw JDHS fall 5-0.
Though it didn’t make a difference to the outcome, the lone goal was important for the ailing JDHS team.
“We set that as a goal in between the second and third (periods): let’s not just be complacent, let’s go for a goal,” head coach Luke Adams said. “That was a big confidence boost. They stayed the course and worked hard for that goal.”
JDHS definitely had its work cut out with 3A state champions Monroe. Before falling last week to the Wasilla Warriors, the smallest school in the North Star Borough won 26 games.
Playing against — and hanging with — such competition is huge for the JDHS program, which Gist said had its best game “effort wise” of the year.
“Monroe’s a good team and they definitely pushed us out of our comfort zone. That’s what you need to improve,” Adams said.
JDHS played without at least five first- and second-line players and Adams was proud of his team for its perseverance. Absent for the Crimson Bears were Jaime Moreno, Joseph Monsef, Ryan Liebelt, Cully Corrigan and Jacob Dale.
“We had a lot of injuries, but our kids stepped up to the challenge. … We are very happy with the effort,” Adams said.
Monroe scored at 9:23 in the first period; 13:07, 8:04 and :26 in the second; and 4:11 of the third in the Sunday morning game. Scorers for Monroe were, in chronological order: Evan Fritze, Carson Coiley, Jacob Rauenhorst, Ryan Michael and Matias Szumigala.
JDHS goalies Kyle Farley-Robinson and Wolf Dostal combined for 28 saves on 33 shots Sunday. Monroe goalie Nathaniel Jankowski saved 25 of 26 shots.
JDHS plays next at home against Houston Jan. 6 and 7. Both of those games are at 7 p.m. at Treadwell Ice Arena.
Saturday
Juneau-Douglas 0,
Monroe 5
Crimson Bears 0 0 0 – 0
Rams 3 0 2 – 5
First period: 1. Monroe, Fritze (Coiley), 14:35; 2. Monroe, Bartels (Fritze), pp, 3:47; 3. Monroe, Armstrong (Rauenhorst), 3:24.
Third period: 4. Monroe, Armstrong (unassisted), 12:06; 5. Monroe, Bartels (unassisted), :55.
Penalties — Juneau-Douglas 5 for 10:00; Monroe 2 for 4:00.
Goaltenders — Juneau-Douglas, Farley-Robinson (25 shots, 20 saves); Monroe, Jankowski (11 shots, 11 saves).
