The Juneau Douglas Ice Association 10-and-under hockey team recently defeated the Gomez Foundation on Monday to claim the 10U Alaska State Hockey Association Division B Championship at Homer’s Kevin Bell Arena.
The 8-1 victory capped a six-game run in the three-day tournament that featured a rematch against an Anchorage club from the President’s Day Invitational in February.
Juneau and Anchorage played a semifinal that was delayed almost two hours because of a power outage that saw the young teams competing at 9:30 p.m.
Andrew Troxel staked Juneau to a 1-0 lead early in the second period, but Anchorage tied the game with two minutes remaining in the period. Troxel put Juneau on top again with 6 minutes and 45 seconds to play.
Teammate Calen Sooter put the game out of reach when he picked up a loose puck and fired off a quick shot over the goalie’s left shoulder with under 2 minutes left.
“We knew the tournament could come down to this game for either team,” said Randy Host, who along with Miles Brookes coached the Capitals. “Our top players matched up evenly with theirs, so it was important that we took advantage of our opportunities.”
Troxel (28 goals) and Sooter (nine goals) led the team while three other Capitals also contributed. Egan Brookes scored eight goals; Max Hayes recorded four goals and Porter Love added one.
Tug Hansen, Sawyer Friend, Chance Griffin and Landry Kissner and recorded assists.
The Capitals featured two goalies, each playing three games in net. Hayes produced two shutouts while teammate Arya Gribbin also recorded a shutout among her three victories.
Defensively, Host and Brookes relied upon the defensive pairings of Love and Tori Petrie and Oscar Lamb and Warren Ploof to limit opposing teams’ shots throughout the tournament.
“None of these kids got a chance to play in a state tournament last year, in part because of COVID-19,” Host said. “And for some of the players, it was their first time ever playing outside of Juneau. The kids responded by supporting one another while representing Juneau with class.”
Scores:
Juneau 8, Kodiak 0
Juneau 9, Alaska Avalanche 1
Juneau 11, Kenai 0
Juneau 11, Anchorage Willinham 2
Juneau 3, Anchorage Engel 1
Juneau 8, Gomez 1
