Hawks soar to historic win

WASILLA — It may have been Houston’s Mid-Alaska Conference season opener, but Hawks head coach Mike Styers knew Thursday’s game against North Pole was one his team absolutely had to win. And Houston prevailed.

Senior Rye Humphreys posted the hat trick and five different players scored to lift Houston to an 8-3 win over North Pole at the Brett Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla.

“We have to win this game if we want to go to regions,” Styers said. “They stepped up and did a great job.”

The top four from the five-team MAC advance to the conference championship tournament, which will be hosted by West Valley at the UAF Patty Center in Fairbanks in February. Houston, a small school that constantly battles programs with much larger rosters, is often the team left out of the party. But Styers hopes that will change this year.

West Valley and Lathrop are considered the conference’s top programs, Styers said, and the head coach believes Houston will be in a fight with North Pole and Juneau-Douglas for the final two tourney berths. Styers said this win gives the Hawks the confidence to keep battling throughout the conference schedule.

“It’s huge. It gives us a goal,” Styers said. “It gives us confidence. We know we have a shot.”

The win is notable on many levels. It’s also Houston’s first victory over North Pole as a member of the MAC. The Hawks had beat the Patriots back during their days as a 3A program, but never as a 4A school.

Lane Styers posted a pair of goals, and Jon Olson, Jaden Sears and Zack Lovelace also scored for Houston. Lovelace also had five assists. Goalie Ben Barenburg stopped 31 shots to earn the win in net.

Houston outshot North Pole 51-34 in the game.

Jordan Pascoe led the Pats with a goal and an assist. Austin Cote and Elliot St. Laurent also scored for North Pole.

North Pole took a 1-0 lead early in the contest, with Cote’s goal, but Houston posted four goals to take a 4-1 lead into the first break.

Houston continues MAC play hosting West Valley tonight at 7 p.m. at the Brett. North Pole stays in the Valley to face Palmer tonight at 7 p.m. at the MTA Palmer Ice Arena. On Saturday, North Pole meets Wasilla at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena at noon.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/matsu_sports.

Houston 8, North Pole 3

Thursday, Brett Arena

First period — 1. North Pole- Cote (Pascoe) 8:58; 2. Houston- Olson (Styers, J. Lovelace) 7:19; 3. Houston- Sears (Shuey, Z. Lovelace) 6:26; 4. Houston- Styers (Z. Lovelace) 5:06; 5. Houston- Styers (Z. Lovelace, Humphreys) 4:09.

Second period — 6. Houston- Humphreys (J. Lovelace, Z. Lovelace) 9:47; 7. North Pole- St. Laurent (Wade, Geyer) 3:11; 8. North Pole- Pascoe (Morrow, Cote) 2:13; 9. Houston- Humphreys (unassisted) 2:04.

Third period — 10. Houston- Z. Lovelace (unassisted) 6:29; 11. Houston- Humphreys (Daly-Niemi, Z. Lovelace) 1:04.

Shots on goal: North Pole 8-20-6—34, Houston 18-13-20—51; Saves: North Pole- Wilkes 14-11-18—43, Houston- Barenburg 7-18-6—31.