Buoyed by Joseph Christiansen’s hat trick and 23 saves from goaltender Zachary Blanton on Thursday, the Anchorage North Stars improved to 2-0-0 in the Tier II 18U 2A division at the USA Hockey National Championships in Delmont, Penn.
The North Stars beat the Casco Bay Mariners of Maine, 4-1, and have racked 11 goals in their two games. Malachi Lachance added a goal in Thursday’s win and Henry Sholton and Paul Dittrich added assists.
Also improving to 2-0-0 were the Tier II 14U Alaska Wolves, who earned a 2-1 win Thursday over the Nashville Jr. Predators in the 2A division in Amherst, N.Y.
Rohn Pride backed the win with 16 saves and has delivered a 1.00 goals-against average and .944 save percentage in two games. Raymond Hardy and Oliver Zuber bagged the goals in Alaska’s win, which featured an unusual sequence of penalties – Nashville was whistled for the first four infractions of the game and the Wolves busted for the last four.
Meanwhile, at the Tier II girls 18U tournament in East Lansing, Mich., Rian Runyan furnished a hat trick, including the empty-net clincher, to help propel the Alaska All Stars to a 5-3 win over Premier Prep Sky Blue (Minn.) and even their record at 1-1-0.
Adelina Gularte scored the other two goals for the All Stars (1-1-0), who received two helpers from Karissa Haimes and 22 saves from Kailie Champagne.
Alaska has seven teams in various Tier II national tournaments around the country. And several Alaskans are playing for Outside teams at the Tier I level, the highest in American youth hockey.
Alaska’s entries went 4-3-0 on Thursday after going 3-4-0 in Wednesday’s openers.
At the girls Tier II 16U tournament in Green Bay, Wis., on Thursday, Sammy Gerteisen’s power-play strike with three minutes left helped push the Valley Thunder (1-1-0) to a 2-1 win over St. James (Va.) in the 1A division.
Makena Delucia scored the Thunder’s opening goal and Asha Gerteisen assisted on both goals. Abigail Blevins has proved a rock in net. She stopped 15 shots Thursday and through two games owns a 1.00 goals-against average and .955 save percentage.
At the boys 16U event in Dallas, the Valley Thunder (1-1-0) fell 5-2 to the Carolina Jr. Hurricanes on Thursday, despite a strong performance from goalie Keagon O’Bryan.
O’Bryan came off the bench with the Thunder trailing 2-0 just 2 minutes, 27 seconds into the game and repelled 33 of 36 shots. Defenseman Matthew Ross scored a goal for the second straight game, as did forward Parker Jusczak, who added an assist. Both Ross and Jusczak have put up 2-2—4 scoring totals in two games.
The Alaska All Stars 14U Tier II girls endured a heartbreaker Thursday, falling 4-3 to the Minnesota Polars in the 2A division in Sioux Falls, S.D.
The All Stars (0-2-0) led 3-2 after two periods before surrendering two third-period goals, including the short-handed game-winning marker with just 71 seconds left. Sophia Bruno furnished 1-2—3 totals, Peyton Marcum chimed in with a goal and a helper, and Brooklynn Harrison scored a goal. Madelynn Derleth stopped 31 shots.
At the Tier II girls 19U tournament in East Lansing, Hockey Club Fairbanks fell 5-2 to the Nashville Jr. Predators in the 1A division.
Fairbanks (0-2-0) received goals from Grace White and Galilee Murray – Murray has scored in both tournament games. Nashville’s Pimsiri Wilhelmy scored all five Preds goals.
Here’s how Outside teams that include Alaska players fared on Thursday in Tier I tournaments:
- Forward Ryan Embley of Anchorage and top-seeded Shattuck-St. Mary’s (Minn.) improved to 3-0-0 and advanced to Friday’s quarterfinals with a 4-1 victory over Victory Honda (Mich.) at the boys 18U in Las Vegas. Embley scored a goal in Tuesday’s tournament-opening 5-1 win over Team Maryland and had an assist in Wednesday’s 10-2 romp over the New Jersey Rockets.
- Forward Camden Zaporzan of Anchorage scored a goal for second-seeded Shattuck(3-0-0) in a 5-1 win over the Chicago Reapers at the 14U boys tournament in Plymouth, Mich. He owns 2-1—3 totals in three games.
- Forward Ella Johnson of Palmer assisted on a power-play goal to open the scoring and lift Shattuck (3-0-0) to a 4-1 victory over Little Caesars (Mich.) in the girls 19U tournament in West Chapel, Fla.
- Defenseman Olivia Johnson of Palmer helped top-seeded Shattuck (3-0-0) to a 5-3 win over the Chicago Mission in the 16U tournament in West Chapel.
- Also in the girls 16U tournament, forward Annika Stock of Anchorage and the Bishop Kearney Selects (N.Y) improved to 3-0-0 with a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Magazine.