JDHS shuts out rebuilding Homer in 16-0, 13-0 matchups at Treadwell Arena

With final scores of 16-0 and 13-0 in the Crimson Bears’ favor, the two weekend matchups between the high school hockey teams from Juneau and Homer weren’t competitive games so much as a chance for both squads to work on goals toward their respective futures.

For Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé, that meant adding several junior varsity players to the squad and giving them extended ice time during the games Friday and Saturday at Treadwell Arena. For the Homer High School Mariners, it was about continuing to rebuild after being inactive last year as the coach seeks to return the team to its title-winning status of just a few years ago.

Homer kept Friday’s game a scoreless tie for the first three minutes and 36 seconds, but JDHS scored four goals during the next six minutes and never looked back, scoring six goals each in the second and third periods. On Saturday the Crimson Bears scored their first goal 22 seconds into the game, going on to take a 3-0 lead at the end of the first period and 10-0 at the end of the second before scoring three more goals in the third.

“We had five kids play their first varsity game this weekend and a lot of them scored their first varsity goal,” JDHS head coach Matt Boline said after Saturday’s game, adding “for them we’re looking at the long-term development for them and in three years when they’re seniors we want them to do it the same way.”

The MVP of Saturday’s game was Drew Cadigan-Mcadoo, playing his second varsity game for JDHS, scoring two goals and two assists.

One thing that didn’t change compared to a more evenly matched faceoff was telling the players on the ice to compete to their full ability, while trying to analyze and address weaknesses, Boline said.

“There’s a little bit of you start to feel bad scoring goals, but at the same time it’s almost a little disrespectful to the game if you don’t,” he said. “If you have the puck where you should be shooting, when you have opportunity to score, you should take it.”

Those shots were being taken against a goalie who had never put on skates before the first practice of this season, said Homer coach Steve Nevak, just one indicator of the rebuilding the team is going through.

“He’d never been on ice, but we needed a goaltender and I think he did a hell of a job,” he said.

The mariners have four brand-new skaters this season, Nevak said.

“So we need to start working on basic fundamentals,” he said. “The stuff we worked on is getting those on getting those little five-foot passes or those one-touch breakouts. That looked so much better this game than it has in the past few games. So we’re starting from the ground up here.”

Homer won back-to-back Division II state titles in 2020 and 2021, but missed the 2022-23 season due to lack of players and thus are ineligible to compete for the championship this season. Nevak said he expects the rebuilding process to take time since “next year we only got a few freshmen coming in.”

“But our seventh grade class is very large,” he said. “So we’ll be back.”

The shot count in both games was reflective of the scores, with Homer going 0-for-8 on Friday and o-for-10 on Saturday. JDHS went 16-for-40 on Friday and 13-for-36 on Saturday.

Many of Homer’s shots were made far from the net, but the Mariners threatened to avoid a shutout in the final minute of Saturday’s game with a close-up shot saved by Juneau’s Mason Souter, playing instead of regular goaltender Caleb Friend.

Ian Moller, a JDHS senior, said after Saturday’s game the matchups offered a chance to work on various tactics such as crashing the net and close-up shots. He said winning by dominating margins over a clearly struggling team doesn’t offer the thrill of a hard-fought match against a tough opponent, but there still is plenty of satisfaction to be taken from the weekend.

“I’ve gained a lot more confidence in some of our younger players, that’s for sure,” he said.

Scoring goals for JDHS during the two games were:

• Elliot Welch with three on Friday.

• Camden Kovach with three on Friday.

• Dylan Sowa with two on Friday.

• Luke Bovitz with three on Saturday.

• Carter Miller with one on Friday and two on Saturday.

• Dylan Sowa with two on Friday.

• Xavier Melancon with two on Saturday.

• Drew Cadigan-Mcadoo with two on Saturday.

• Isaac Phelps with two on Saturday.

• Caden Johns with one each on Friday and Saturday.

• Caden Morris with one each on Friday and Saturday.

• Ian Moller with one on Friday.

• Loren Platt with one on Friday.

• Emilio Holbrook with one on Friday.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.