Top 3A hockey squads skate to tie

WASILLA — Fifty-three minutes of hockey was not enough to separate the top two squads in the Greatland Conference.

Houston skated to a 3-3 tie with Monroe Catholic Saturday at the Big Lake Recreational Center in Big Lake.

“It was pretty even all the way around,” Houston head coach Mike Styers said.

Monroe’s Landon Bartels scored with 2 minutes, 8 seconds left in regulation to provide the game-winner for the defending state champions. Monroe bested Houston 3-0 in the 2016 3A state title game, a year after Houston topped the Rams for the 2015 state crown.

“It was back and forth the whole game. It was a good, close game,” Styers said of the contest which featured three 15-minute periods in regulation and an eight-minute tiebreaker.

Neither team led by a goal in the contest. Monroe took an early 1-0 lead, but Tyler Chivers supplied the quick answer to tie the game at 1. After Riley Ott pushed Monroe’s lead to 2-1, Houston scored a pair of goals.

Kai Kingery found the back of the net at the 7:02 mark of the third to tie the score at 2. Riley Scott scored for the Hawks with 4:28 left to give the Hawks the 3-2 lead.

Overall, Styers said he was pleased with the improvement he saw from his squad compared to the last time the Hawks faced Monroe. In December, Monroe beat Houston 5-1.

“It was a good, close game,” Styers said. “It was good for our guys to build some confidence.”

Monroe and Houston will skate into the 3A state tourney as the top two seeds. For more on the tournament, see the Friday edition of the Frontiersman

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

Houston 3, Monroe Catholic 3

Saturday, Big Lake Rec Center

First period — 1. Monroe- Szmugilia (Ott) 13:50; 2. Houston- T. Chivers (Smoldon, Kingery) 13:36.

Second period — no scoring.

Third period — 3. Monroe- Ott (Coley, Freze) pp 9:38; 4. Houston- Kingery (Smoldon) 7:02; 5. Houston- Scott (A. Natekin, Y. Natekin) 4:28; 6. Monroe- Bartels (Armstrong, Coley) 2:08.

Shots on goal: Monroe 9-8-8—25, Houston 6-16-7—29; Saves: Houston- Nix 8-8-6—22, Monroe- Jankowski 5-16-5—26.