Team effort makes Sunsets winners in Wyoming

Outscore four opponents 30-9

Fresh off their gold-medal triumph in the First Security Games, the Sun Valley Sunsets stayed on a roll and won last weekend’s five-team women’s hockey tournament at Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Led by the scoring of Tizz Strachan Miller (6 goals and 4 assists for 10 points), Larsen Peterson (5-3 for 8), Wendy Hall (3-5 for 8) and Sheila Naghsh (4-3 for 7), the Sunsets went 4-0 and outscored their opponents 30-9 in the wins.

Naghsh went wild in Sunday’s 9-3 championship game victory over Idaho Falls.

She scored a 3-goal "hat trick" in the first 19 minutes, sparking the Sunsets to a 4-2 lead. Two Lucy Chubb goals hiked the lead to 7-3. And goalie Dotty Sarchett shut down Idaho Falls thereafter.

The Sunsets outshot Idaho Falls 29-7 in the first two periods and kept applying enormous offensive pressure—just as they did all weekend. Indeed, a well-balanced team effort fueled the title run.

Friday night, Peterson took a Julie Bell pass and scored early in the third period to break a 2-2 tie with University of Colorado/Boulder. Strachan scored the insurance goal, on a Hall pass. The Sunsets outshot Colorado 41-13 in the 4-2 win. Sarchett made only 11 saves.

The biggest threat to the Sunsets came Saturday night.

The Ketchum squad trailed Idaho Falls 4-2 with eight minutes left in the third period of the preliminary game, then exploded for 4 unanswered goals in 6:21 to win 6-4.

Goals by Peterson and Twyla Bulcher (1-3 for 4) tied it 4-4 with five minutes left. Chubb (3-1 for 4) tallied the eventual game winner on a Hall pass, then Hall provided insurance on a Chubb feed. Goalie Jenny Conrad finished with 23 saves, 13 in the third.

On Sunday, the Sunsets outshot Jackson Hole 47-8 and blanked the home team 11-0 with Conrad and Sarchett sharing the net chores.

Strachan ended up with 4 goals and 3 assists, Georgia Hutchinson (2-4 for 6) scored twice and Peterson twice.

Rounding out the Sunsets scoring at Jackson Hole: Julie Bell 2-2 for 4; Geraldine Carter 2-1 for 3; Christine Gould 1-2 for 3; Christl Holzl 1-2 for 3; Edith Iler 1-1 for 2; and Gretel Kearney 0-1 for 1.