JDHS’ Welch buries sudden death goal to ice Kodiak
- Klas Stolpe
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Senior says 'blood was pumping' as he ended the game with 14 seconds on the clock
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
“Holy cow!” Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior Elliot Welch exclaimed as he left the Treadwell Arena ice well past 10 p.m. Monday night after delivering the Crimson Bears a 4-3 sudden-death overtime win over the visiting Kodiak Bears. “The blood is pumping.”
Kodiak stirred up the oxygen and nutrients first with senior Ejler Durand scoring at 13:45 of the first period, assisted by junior Collin Gibbs.
The Bears took that lead down to 1:53 left in the period and added a score by sophomore Kieran Hayden, assisted by junior Cooper Smith, for a 2-0 advantage.
Welch started off his bookend night of scoring with a goal unassisted with 53.7 seconds left in the first period to bring JDHS to 2-1.
Crimson Bears sophomore Summit Bos tied the score at 2-2 with 12 minutes left in the second period on a power play, assisted by senior Emerson Newell and freshman Paxton Willoughby.
Kodiak took a 3-2 lead with seven minutes left in the second period on a goal by Bears’ junior captain Kevin Foster, assisted by Durand.
JDHS tied the game just minutes into the third period as sophomore Ryker Nelson hit a short-handed goal from just off the corner of the net, assisted by Bos. The two sides would skate out the final minutes with multiple chances on both ends but needing an extra eight minutes to decide the victor.
As the final seconds of overtime clicked off sophomore Ryker Nelson put a shot into the Kodiak keeper’s goalie pad and it bounced out, and the dirty work in front of the net began.
“I was able to hit it with the toe of my stick which flipped it up,” Welch said. “It hit the post and it slowly rolled across the line…That was exciting. Just the adrenaline after that went in. The whole team just got so hyped up after that. That was awesome. We needed that win. Nice to win at home. Now we come back tomorrow morning and hopefully do it again.”
JDHS junior goalie Jed Davis stopped 17 shots while Kodiak senior Simon Lonheim was peppered with 46 shots and he stopped 42. The relatively clean game held just five penalties total, two on JDHS and three on Kodiak.
Stars of the Game honors went to Kodiak goalie Simon Lonheim with 42 saves, JDHS forward Summit Bos with one goal and one assist and JDHS defenseman Elliot Welch with two goals.
The two sides will play again bright and early at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Weekend games approaching included senior night Friday against Homer. Senior celebrations begin at 6:15 p.m. with the game following at 7:30 p.m.
Crimson Bears seniors Elias Schane, Elliot Welch, Jack Barrett, Nolan Cruz, Hunter Lingle, Emerson Newell, Isaac Phelps, Zachary Prather, Issy Martin, Paxton Mertl and John Melancon will be honored.
JDHS and Homer will also play at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com.
