Senior leads Hawks to hockey sweep

WASILLA — A night after notching a hat trick, Isaac Smolden scored the game-winner in overtime.

Pretty productive weekend for the Houston High senior.

Smoldon knocked in a rebound with 2 minutes and 33 seconds left in the tiebreaker to lift the Houston Hawks to a 3-2 extra-time win over Glennallen Saturday morning at the Menard Arena in Wasilla.

“He played well. He was working really hard,” Houston head coach Mike Styers said of Smoldon.

Smolden used a four-goal weekend to help the Hawks start the season 2-0 in Greatland Conference play.

“Isaac is a really good leader. Offensively, right now he’s definitely our top player,” Styers said.

Styers said Smoldon’s overtime tally came on about Houston’s third opportunity in front of the Glennallen net. Styers also noted Tyler Chivers, who helped set up Smoldon’s goal by getting his own shot on goal to keep play alive.

Houston jumped out to an early two-goal lead Saturday, getting first-period goals from Blake Rogers and Reed Humphreys. Glennallen forced overtime with a pair of Daks Bowman goals in the third period.

“We were deeper, but that actually wore us down a little. They’re hard-working,” Styers said of the squad, a co-op team that features players from the Glennallen and Kenny Lake areas.

Friday, Smoldon notched a hat trick to lead Houston to a 4-3 win over Glennallen. All three Smolden goals came on the power play. Humphreys added an unassisted tally for the Hawks. Kai Kingery led Houston with a pair of assists.

Freshman Josh Smoldon earned the win in the Houston net both days. Smolden made 23 saves on Friday and 20 on Saturday.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Houston 3, Glennallen 2

Saturday, Menard Arena

First period — 1. Houston- Rogers (I. Smoldon, Gillespie) 13:18; 2. Houston- Humphreys (Gillespie) 3:36.

Second period — no scoring.

Third period — 3. Glennallen- Bowman (Doty) 12:44; 4. Glennallen- Bowman (Rude, Hutchison) 4:12.

Overtime — 5. Houston- I. Smoldon (T. Chivers, N. Gillespie) 2:33.

Shots on goal: Houston 15-11-11-9—46, Glennallen 9-5-6-1—22; Saves: Houston- J. Smoldon 9-5-4-1—20, Glennallen- Friendshuh 13-11-11-8—43.

Houston 4, Glennallen 3

Friday, Menard Arena

First period — 1. Houston- I. Smoldon (Kingery, Chivers) pp 13:10; 2. Houston- I. Smoldon (Kingery) pp 9:19; 3. Glennallen- Bowman (unassisted) pp 4:38; 4. Glennallen- Doty (Bowman) pp 1:57.

Second period — 5. Houston- Humphreys (unassisted) 10:37.

Third period — 6. Glennallen- Hutchison (Rude, Buddle) 12:50; 7. Houston- I. Smoldon (Rogers) pp 4:27.

Shots on goal: Houston 10-15-14—39, Glennallen 12-5-9—26; Saves: Houston- J. Smoldon 10-5-8—23, Glennallen- Friendshuh 8-14-13—35.