On Saturday, February 3rd, the Soldotna Stars faced off against the Houston Hawks in the finals of the 2024 ASAA DII First National Cup Ice Hockey State Championships, with hopes to defend their previous season’s title.
The Hawks were the first to take the puck, and less than four minutes into the period, forward Philip Kuzmin scored, starting a trend that would continue into the night. Houston then kept the puck downfield for the rest of the period, shooting on multiple occasions, but were met with impressive saves by SoHi goalie Tanner Clyde. With only two minutes left on the clock, Houston players Daniel Matveev and Bronson Howard were met with hefty penalties, allowing the Stars to pick up the pressure, but to no avail.
Matveev and Howard still graced the penalty box at the start of the second period, leading to Soldotna having five players over Houston’s three. However, it did not stop the Hawks from advancing.
After the reunion of the full team, Houston’s biggest scoring streak began. Matveev, fresh from the box, was the first to score a point. Shortly after, Brayden Spain made a goal, soon followed by Brody Richard, marking three goals scored in less than a minute. Richard would go on to make another goal, later in the second period.
Within their impressive run, the Hawks once again found themselves outnumbered. Despite the Stars’ impressive advances, they were unable to take advantage of their opponent’s situation.
The third period was no different from the rest, and both Matveev and Kuzmin each scored once more, defeating the Stars 7-0 and putting the Hawk back in ‘Hawk-ey.’
The final championship standings are as follows:
1st place: Houston Hawks
2nd place: Soldotna Stars
3rd place: Palmer Moose
4th place: Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears
5th place: Kenai Kardinals
6th place: North Pole Patriots
7th place: Kodiak Bears*
8th place: Tri-Valley Warriors*
*Note: No 7th/8th place game was played at the 2024 ASAA First National Cup DII Ice Hockey State Championship. As such, the respective teams have been ranked in this article according to their tournament seed.
