The Mariners beat a mixed varsity-JV Kenai squad 5-3 Saturday afternoon in Kenai, ending the high school hockey careers of four Homer seniors -- Ivan Bucher, Giuseppe Ricciardi, Wes Busby and Colter Demers -- on a winning note.

"That was probably our best game of the year," Bucher said of the Kenai win. "It was real physical. Everything was on."

Bucher, who has been a part of the

rinkless Mariner hockey program since its beginning three years ago, said this season was the most successful yet for Homer High hockey.

The Mariners finished the season 6-7, playing a mix of junior varsity and varsity competition. Due to warm temperatures, the team was only able to practice at the outdoor rink behind Homer Middle School on a handful of occasions.

Five of the six consecutive losses in the Mariners' skid came against varsity competition, coach Keith Nelson said.

"I think it's good that we played a mixed schedule, because they really improved a lot (during the varsity games) over the last couple of weeks," Nelson said.

"They showed a lot of character, playing as hard as they did against teams that get so much more ice time and support."

Nelson said he hoped the level of effort and commitment shown by his players would garner a little more respect for the fledgling program.

On Friday, the Mariners earned some on-ice respect, as they jumped on the Panthers early and often.

Bucher netted a hat trick -- his third of the season -- and Travis Brown scored twice.

Bucher said that playing on the Olympic-sized ice surface of the Sports Center was just the ingredient the Mariners were looking for.

"That kind of opened things up," he said. "We were cycling the puck better than we have been and just spreading it out.

"We just knew we wanted to win, so we did it."

On Saturday, the Mariners kept the momentum rolling against the Kardinals, as sophomore winger Scott Owen scored a pair of goals. Brown, Terry Shroyer and goaltender-gone-defenseman Bryan Smith also scored for the Mariners. It was the first goal of the season for Smith, who moved to the blue line after playing half the season in goal.

Nelson said it was an excellent way to wrap up the season.

"All of the stuff that we'd been working on this season came together."

Sepp Jannotta can be reached at sjannotta@homer news.com.