JDHS hockey returns home to face Homer, celebrate seniors

The Juneau-Douglas High School hockey team hosts Homer High School at Treadwell Arena today and Saturday.

Tonight’s game is at 8 p.m. and Saturday’s match starts at 7:30 p.m. Senior night festivities begin at 7 p.m. Saturday.

JDHS and Homer are both on course to qualify for the ASAA First National Cup Division II state championships in two weeks. The top three teams from Division II’s Railbelt and Aurora conferences receive automatic state tournament berths. Currently, JDHS (8-5) is second in the Railbelt standings right in front of Homer (7-6), according to ASAA’s online standings.

[JDHS seniors embrace change and new opportunities]

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“We’re definitely excited about the next month of hockey,” JDHS coach Luke Adams said. “We have a great opportunity to compete in a state tournament with a lot of teams that are very talented.”

JDHS has made the Division I state tournament in each of the last three seasons. This season would be the first Crimson Bears’ appearance in the Division II state tournament. JDHS and a handful of other teams were reclassified from Division I (large school) to Division II (small school) status last year.

It’s been six weeks since the last time the Crimson Bears played at home. JDHS knocked off Houston High School, 8-1, on Dec. 1, and have continued to score a lot of goals on the road, outscoring Kenai Central, North Pole and Tri Valley 41-6 in five wins. Soldotna is the lone team that’s posted wins over JDHS over the last month. The Stars won 3-0 and 1-0 against the Crimson Bears on Dec. 13 and Dec. 15, respectively.

This year’s seniors include Bill Bosse, Dalton Hoy, Cully Corrigan, Logan Ginter, Owen Squires, Ronan Lynch, Tyler Weldon, Finn Yerkes, Kyler Alderfer, Cameron Smith, Blake Bixby, Wolf Dostal and Greyson Liebelt.

“It’s humbling to have such a big senior class that takes so much pride in what they do,” Adams said. “Their friendships go beyond hockey; they’re like a big family, they always have been.”

Bosse leads the team this season with 22 points (14 goals, eight assists). Lynch has recorded 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) and Hoy’s contributed 14 points (eight goals, six assists).

JDHS finishes out the regular season next weekend at home against Tri Valley.

• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com. Follow Empire Sports on Twitter at @akempiresports.