Lola Hickman of Service/East girls hockey team goes on the attack. Photo by Stephanie Burgoon/Alaska Sports Report
No substitutes? No problem for the Mat-Su Ravens, who soundly defeated Service/East 13-6 on Friday at UAA’s Chuck Homan Ice Rink despite only having six players available.
Because most of the girls play on multiple teams which creates competing schedules, Mat Su’s roster is packed with 24 players to ensure they got enough bodies for game day. Many of their players are in Boston this week with a travel team, and a few are out sick, leading to Friday’s dilemma.
“We’ve never been this short,” Mat-Su assistant coach Hailey Keil said with a laugh after the game. “Every time we got a break, I’m like lining up the water bottles on the bench.”
In addition, the Ravens (3-3-1) were missing all of their goalies – forcing forward Candace Jack into action. Jack, whose sister Scarlett is one of the team’s goalies, wore her sister’s gear and stepped between the pipes. It wasn’t Jack’s first time there, having played part of a season in net a few years ago, but it was a notable one.
“This is actually the first game I’ve won as goalie too, which is really funny with five players on the ice,” said Jack, who saved 13 of 19 shots.
“I don’t know if you guys could hear me,” she told her team during a post-game interview, “but I was definitely cheering you guys on from the net.”
All five skaters for the Ravens made appearances on Friday’s scoresheet, with top scorer Kendall Ketchum netting five goals and four assists, closely followed by four goals from Madison Bigelow.
Service/East goalie Madison Rennard didn’t make it easy for the Ravens, turning away 22 shots, including several swift swipes that garnered cheers from spectators.
“The first period was really fun, just cause we all got so much playing time,” said Ketchum. “We’re used to a full bench, so that was different.”
Mat-Su dominated the first period, starting with goals from Stella Odgers and Bigelow. Service/East responded to earn the only tie of the game, with a breakaway from top scorer Taylor Maddox followed by Madigan Carey capitalizing on a rebound.
Service/East’s Hannah Katchen and Lila Steele also furnished tough defense. Behind three of Ketchum’s five goals, another from Bigelow and one from Morgan Gallagher, Mat-Su racked up the score for a 7-2 lead going into the second period.
Service/East (0-6) outscored Mat-Su in the second behind Maddox, who tallied three more goals alongside one from Sherylynn Simbre to narrow the Ravens’ lead to 9-6 at the end of the period, following two more Mat-Su goals from Frankie Wolff and Ketchum.
The last period saw solid efforts on offense from Service/East’s Maddox and Malila Miller, with Sydney Ecenarro, Lola Hickman, Tristen Newhouse and Katchen all pitching in inside the defensive zone. The Ravens found the back of the net four more times in the third – a pair from Bigelow plus one from Gallagher and Ketchum – to close out the scoring.
Both teams are back on the ice next week with Senior Night on Friday, Jan. 19. Service/East will face Chugiak/Eagle River at 5:45 p.m. at Dempsey Anderson Ice Arena and the Mat-Su Ravens will match up against South/Bartlett at 6:45 p.m. at MTA Events Center in Palmer.
Girls Hockey Standings
| POINTS | TEAM | RECORD |
| 12 | Dimond/West | 6-0-0 |
| 7 | Mat-Su | 3-3-1 |
| 6 | Chugiak/Eagle River | 3-2-0 |
| 5 | South/Bartlett | 2-3-1 |
| 0 | Service/East | 0-6-0 |