The Juneau Capitals placed second at the 2016 Anchorage Hockey Association Presidents’ Day Invitational in the bantam 14 and under division.
Juneau won five-straight games to reach the championship game against team Interior Heat. Blake Bixby scored the Capitals’ lone goal with 18 seconds left in the 3-1 loss.
Ian Leary, one of the bantam coaches, was pleased with the Capitals’ effort leading into the upcoming state tournament in March.
“Our goal was to play all six games and keep working on our fundamentals,” Leary said. “All the players stepped up and contributed during the tournament with all players scoring a goal or an assist. We started out the first period of the championship game with two penalties, which set us on our heels, and we couldn’t get on the right side of the puck for most of the game. We simply ran out of time. We met our goal to play six games and the players had a great experience in Anchorage.”
To reach the championship game, Juneau battled in a 3-2 win against FAHA-Roe on Friday with Bixby, Tezah Haddock and Paxton Wildes notching goals. The Capitals finished the day with a 9-0 win against AHA-Mills, with Haddock recording a hat trick.
Juneau clinched two victories Saturday, beating Comets-Gross 7-1 and FAHA-Saari 6-2.
On Sunday, Juneau, led by Owen Squires’ hat trick, defeated the Eagle River Mustangs 7-3 in a crossover divisional game, placing the Capitals in the title game.
