Casseri says his Mariners are just getting warmed up
Two weeks ago, Homer High School Basketball Coach Mark Casseri had his abbreviated Mariner Varsity team adventuring in Nome, hiking the tundra in subzero temperatures.
“We all had a great time,” Casseri said. “It was a great way for our older players to do a little bonding.”
Certainly it was a trip they will remember for many years to come.
Last weekend, Casseri took his young men to the Valley to face the Colony Knights and Palmer Moose. And while the outcome wasn’t particularly favorable — Homer lost both games and had a long, cold bus ride home — the weekend wasn’t all bad.
Mariners deal Kards surprising blow
The Homer Mariner hockey team grabbed a little revenge on Saturday, edging long-time nemesis Kenai at home 2-1. Homer goalie Alex Sanarov picked up the win, stopping 29 of 30 Kardinal shots on goal.
With no scoring by either team by the end of the first period, a series of collective groans sounded from the Homer crowd as Kenai found the back of the net with 5:06 left in the second period.
This time, however, the M’s were quick to strike back. With 2:04 remaining in the second period, sophomore Nikit Matveev scored on an assist from freshman Kiril Sanarov to tie the game.
Sports Briefs – Feb. 1
Lady M’s second at Colony The Homer Mariner cross country ski team competed in the Colony Invitational on Friday, with the Lady Mariner squad finishing second overall. Homer’s Marie Schmidt made a strong showing with a third-place finish, while the Mariner men’s team finished seventh, feeling the absence of upperclassmen Andre Lovett and Parker Sorenson, [...]
Sports Briefs – Jan. 25
Mariner hockey struggles to score After logging a few wins on the road last week, the Homer Hockey Team struggled to score against Wasilla, falling 0-5 in conference play. Five different Wasilla players were able to push the puck past Homer goalie Alex Sanarov for the shutout on Friday. The Warriors outshot Homer 44-9 in [...]
Warriors rumble, but fall short of tourney title
The future of Warrior basketball is alive and well in Nikolaevsk. The proof of this lies not only in the consistency of guidance from coaches Steve and Bea Klaich, or the powerful din of cheers in both English and Russian that echo off the walls of the tiny gym.
No, the future of basketball is thriving in the village because members of the small community support the teams and promote the sport as a positive outlet for youth.
That investment seems to be paying off.
Nikolaevsk boys and girls teams fell just short of winning their tenth-annual Warrior Rumble Tournament in Nikolaevsk over the weekend, both falling at the hands of a stronger and older Fort Yukon squad.
The Warriors hosted Nenana, Fort Yukon and Tri-Valley in three days of round-robin play.
Women battle on the ice for hockey bragging rights
After spending some time watching the Homer Winter Jamboree Women’s Hockey Tournament over the weekend, I’ve determined there is a significant difference between men’s and women’s hockey.
Men’s hockey is all about speed, testosterone and burning through copious amounts of adrenaline. Women play the game with a little more style, finesse and imagination.
Men rely on hard-hitting, ice-crunching body checks, while women use more intelligence and creativity, often adding a little flair to a pass, or toe-point to a shot on goal.
The breathing space around the women’s bench during a game is downright refreshing in comparison to the fetid odors that hang in the air when the guys are playing. I wonder how often high school hockey gear gets washed?
You can actually see a goal being scored in women’s hockey. Let’s face it, everything happens so fast in men’s hockey, some of us just wait until we hear everyone else cheer before we join in.
Mariner hockey comes home after 3 wins on the road
Homer hockey traveled north over the weekend to wage a frigid fight on the ice against teams from North Pole and Hutchison. The team was originally scheduled to play Delta on the road trip as well, but the game was canceled due to the cold.
“I was so sad when they canceled the Delta game,” said Mariner Hannah Baird. “I was honestly extremely excited to play in -45 degree weather. No doubt we would have been frozen solid by the end of the game, but it would have been extremely cool to be able to tell people about it.”
Baird would have to settle for two solid Homer wins, as the M’s defeated North Pole 3-2 on Thursday, and Hutchison 4-0 on Friday.
Tommy Bowe scored two goals against North Pole, while Mark Reutov added one. Kiril Sanarov assisted on all three goals, and Alex Sanarov picked up the win in net for Homer, which outshot North Pole 31-10. Things looked a bit bleaker against Hutchison, as Homer held onto a marginal one-goal lead with three minutes to play in the game. Then, they came alive, dominating the final minutes of the match-up.
Lady M’s first, boys second in Kenai
Mariner cross country skier Parker Sorenson summed up last weekend’s Kenai Klassic race at the Tsalteshi Trails behind Skyview High School in three relatively understated words: “It was chilly.”
It was indeed chilly, with the Soldotna boys and Homer girls winning the top spots in minus-4 temperatures. Sprint races scheduled for the second day of competition were canceled, as temperatures plummeted to -28 on Saturday morning.
“The conditions on Friday were OK, but the snow was a little soft,” said Mariner senior Andre Lovett of Homer’s first chance to ski a 10-kilometer race. “I thought we did good, but all of us boys were kinda ticked that SoHi beat us by 18 seconds. We were really excited that the girls won, though. It’s been great watching them get more and more competitive.”
The Lady Mariners put three skiers in the top 10 to wrap up the team title in the 7.5k freestyle race. Marie Schmidt finished second in 28 minutes, 44 seconds, while Kaya Morelli was fourth and Mady Gerard was 10th.
Sports Briefs – Jan. 18
Homer teams battle Nanooks The Homer Mariner Boys Basketball team placed second in Nome, finishing 2-1 in non-conference action against Bethel, Point Hope and host Nome. The Mariners beat Point Hope, and outlasted Bethel 63-61, thanks to a hot hand from senior Dyllan Day. Day scored 25 points and sunk seven three-pointers in the winning [...]
Sports Briefs – Jan. 14
Lady Mariners split games After outlasting a scrappy Skyview team on the road Friday, 38-21, the Homer Lady Mariners struggled against conference foe Kenai at home on Saturday, falling 23-57. Tayla Cabana was high scorer for the Lady Mariners with 15 points. Kayla Hutt added 8. Saturday’s home game against the Kards was not nearly [...]
