Homer Alaska - Sports

Luke Eckert may have saved 35 against both Soldotna and Kenai this weekend, but the shots that blew past him, the silence of Mariner sticks and 36 minutes in penalties led to a sound 7-0 defeat against Soldotna and 8-2 against Kenai.

Coming off a breakthrough weekend starting Jan. 21, defeating Colony and playing on par with Wasilla and Palmer, the Mariner hockey team will head into regionals on shaky ground after two losses last weekend.

The Ms will head up to the Sports Center in Soldotna today to kick off the region tournament. If the boys cannot pull off a win, they will finish out the end of their season this weekend.

"I thought we basically played as well as we knew how to play in the first two periods against Kenai. That's who we are and that's what we've got," said Head Coach Buck Laukitis.

The Kards are the third-ranked team in the league currently, and will be the first challenge that the Ms will face today.

"Kenai is good. I think they might be playing better than anyone in the league right now," said Laukitis. "We play them at regions again. We're optimistic, but we have to make some adjustments to be on that big ice and we're playing them at home."

Laukitis is optimistic, but points out that it'd be a longshot betting on a Mariner state berth coming out of regions.

The region tournament is a one and out, meaning that the Ms would have to get past Kenai, and at least one other challenger, without losing a game to qualify for the state tournament starting Feb. 11.

"We're going to need brilliant goaltending to have a chance. We just have to be smart to win. I'm actually looking forward to this weekend. It's one and out so we'll see how it goes on Thursday," said Laukitis.

Thursday:

Soldotna 7, Homer, 3

Soldotna 1 3 3 --7

Homer 0 0 0 –0

First period -- 1. Soldotna, Anderson (Pokryfki, Fellman), 8:31.

Penalties -- Homer 1 for 2:00.

Second period -- 2. Soldotna, Kerkvliet (Endsley, Waters), 5:03; 3. Soldotna, Kerkvliet (Endsley, Waters), 11:04; 4. Soldotna, Endsley (Harvey), 12:44.

Penalties -- Homer 2 for 4:00; Soldotna 1 for 2:00.

Third period -- 5. Soldotna, n/a (Urban, Waters), 6:31; 6. Soldotna, Waters (Pokryfki), 10:39; 7. Soldotna, Endsley (Kerkvliet, Pearson), 13:42.

Penalties -- Homer 3 for 6:00; Soldotna 1 for 2:00.

Shots on goal -- Homer 2-9-3--14; Soldotna 18-11-13--42.

Goalies -- Homer Eckert (42 shots, 35 saves); Soldotna, Granger (14 shots, 14 saves).

Saturday:

Homer 1 1 0 – 2

Kenai 2 3 3 – 8

First Period -- 1. Kenai, Herrman (Mese, Cunningham), 6:20; 2. Kenai, Mese (Zulkanycz), 4:13; 3. Homer, Duggar (Stage), 1:40.

Penalties -- Homer 1 for 2:00

Second Period -- 4.Kenai, Cunningham (Zulkanycz, Perkins), 12:51; 5. Kenai, Zulkanycz (Mese, Grady Iverson), 8:50; 6. Kenai, Herrman (LeMay, Perkins), 7:22; 7. Homer, Duggar (McCarron, Simmons), 1:29.

Penalties – Homer 1 for 2:00; Kenai 1 for 2:00

Third Period – 8. Kenai, Herrman (Cheek, Jake Iverson), 11:40; 9. Kenai, Jake Iverson (Cunningham, Fusaro), 7:32; 10. Kenai, LeMay (Herrman), 3:39.

Penalties – Homer 6 for 20:00; Kenai 1 for 2:00.

Shots on Goal – Homer 9-8-3—20; Kenai 14-13-16—43

Goalies—Homer, Eckert (43 shots, 35 saves); Kenai, Remsen (20 shots, 18 saves)