Hard work is working for SV Squirts
Coach Jeff Brendel’s Sun Valley Squirts
showed what hard work mixed with ice time can do last weekend in Boise.
They won their third and fourth IHL games
of the youth hockey season.
However, the weekend highlight was not a
Suns victory but a strong showing against IHL powerhouse Las Vegas Outlaws.
One month ago the Outlaws dominated the
Suns in a game at Idaho Falls.
Sunday’s game against the Outlaws showed
the Suns what hard work and dedication mixed with smart, aggressive hockey can
do.
Suns forward Zak Sjoberg scored on a great
pass from Jonathon Hobbs to give the Suns a first-period lead. Sjoberg scored
again in the second with the assist going to Anthony Martin.
The 5-2 final score in favor of Las Vegas
did not reflect how well the Suns played.
Coach Brendel told the team after the game
that they out-hustled and out-played the Outlaws, but the breaks did not go the
Suns way.
In the final game of the weekend the Suns
showed off their versatility.
The six regular defensemen moved up to
forward and six of the regular forwards moved back to defense.
Normally a first-line defenseman, Tommy
Heinrich led the game scoring from his center position by netting two goals and
adding one assist.
Also scoring in 6-5 Suns victory over
Salmon were Anthony Martin (unassisted), Charlie Evans assisted by Doogie King,
LeighAnn VanQuill assisted by Tanner Dredge, and Davis Hague assisted by Charlie
Evans.
Zak Sjoberg topped the Suns scoring for
the weekend with 4 goals and 1 assist followed by Anthony Martin 2/2, Charlie
Evans 2/1, Tommy Heinrich 2/1, Alec England 1/1, LeighAnn VanQuill 1/1, Davis
Hague 1/1, Jonathon Hobbs 0/2, Tanner Dredge 0/1 and Doogie King 0/1.
Cody Levitan and Teagan Foster both played
two strong games in Suns net, with each recording one win.
Contributing with strong team play were
Ashley Hesteness, Nellie Brown, Hailey Zanes, Daniela Stokes, Cass Carson and
Cooper Hanley.
The Squirts travel to Salmon this weekend
for a quartet of games.