For the week of March 26 - April 1, 2003

Utah skaters produce a Classic buzz

Center stage for women’s hockey
at Sun Valley

---

By JODY ZARKOS
Express Staff Writer

Teams from the Beehive State created a buzz at the seventh annual Ski Town Classic women’s hockey tournament at Sun Valley Skating Center last weekend.

Merri Whitehead, Fury center, was B tournament MVP. Express photo by Willy Cook

The Salt Lake Black Diamonds swept the five-team A bracket en route to a 4-1 win over the Sun Valley Sunsets (10-2-2) in the championship.

Skating to victory in the B bracket, were the Wasatch Wings, 5-1 over the Boise Hurricanes. The Wings’ winning ways were directed by Laura Anderson’s 12 goals and Bree Cote’s 10.

The Sun Valley Fury (4-7) turned in its best performance this season, finishing in third place out of six teams. In the Classic, the Fury tripled their wins to date with three and doubled their season goal total of five, by scoring 10 times.

Head coach Chris Edwards remarked, "It is nice to be the home team. We were strong in every position."

 

Sun Valley Fury

After getting bounced by eventual champion Wasatch 5-0 in the first game on Friday, the Fury rebounded with a 3-0 victory over the Jackson Hole Betties Saturday morning.

Sun Valley pounded the Jackson net, firing 41 shots. Finding daylight were Nancy Parsons-Brown, Mia Edsall and Cinda Lewis.

Joanie Fox, Fury goalie, had three shutouts, 81 saves and was consolation championship MVP. Express photo by Willy Cook

Against the Salt Lake Black Diamonds II Saturday night, the Fury scored in each period for another 3-0 triumph and its second straight shutout behind goalie Joanie Fox. Point scorers were Carole Punnett, Wendy Bevins and Edsall.

Sun Valley met Jackson Hole Venom in the consolation finale Sunday morning. Heeding Edwards’ advice to "take it to them quick," the Fury scored two goals in the first three minutes and won 4-0.

Lamp lighters were Lolly Greeninger, Merri Whitehead, Lewis and Punnett.

The top-scoring Fury line with five of the team’s 10 goals included, from left, Mia Edsall, Nancy Parsons-Brown and Carole Punnett. Express photo by Willy Cook

Fox (81 saves/3 shutouts) was named Most Valuable Player of the consolation championship game in which she made 18 tough saves.

Tournament MVP honors went to center Merri Whitehead who played both ends of the ice with equal and undaunted intensity.

Captain Nancy Parsons-Brown said, "The tournament was a culmination of our season. We gelled as a team and began playing smarter hockey. It was a great way to end the season."

 

Sun Valley Sunsets

Sunsets head coach Chris Benson sounded like a meteorologist when he summed up his team’s performance.

"We were fair to partly cloudy," he said.

The gloomy outlook was understandable.

Karen Morrison, Sunsets goalie, made 100 saves. Express photo by Willy Cook

Expectations always run high for the Sunsets (13-3-2), five-time winners of the Classic. Anything less than a win is something of a letdown for a team accustomed to first place.

Sunsets assistant coach Wendy Speth said it’s not entirely the players’ fault.

"It’s tough to have a good season when you don’t have any ice time," she said, alluding to the rink closures throughout the winter.

Sun Valley versus Boise was the tournament-opening game Friday night and the Sunsets stamped out a 3-0 win.

Defenseman Christine Gould scored from the slot in the first period. Sheila Naghsh converted in the second and Larsen Peterson tallied one goal in the third.

The Sunsets FON (Freak of Nature) line featured, from left, Kris Miller, Tizz Miller and Lucy Chubb. Express photo by Willy Cook

Saturday, the Northwest Treasures and Sunsets were knotted 1-1 in the second period. That’s when Lucy Chubb broke through to score the game-winner off a pass by Liza Weekes.

If familiarity breeds contempt, it also makes for some fiercely great hockey. Take the case of Sun Valley versus Jackson Hole Saturday night.

The Teton Passers held a 2-0 lead late in the second period. Nicole Perkins stuffed a shot to put Sun Valley on the board, 2-1.

Tournament MVP Jen Embree and Lucy Chubb converted on a power play goal at 9:41 in the third period, and Embree went coast-to-coast for the game-winner at 3-2 with four minutes remaining.

The winning celebration was tempered by the fact that wing Christl Holzl suffered an elbow injury, which also knocked her out of the tournament.

The Sunsets were back in the saddle for an 8 a.m. contest against Salt Lake Sunday morning—and the Black Diamonds handed them an eye-opening 2-0 setback.

The same two teams skated in the championship a mere three hours later.

Salt Lake prevailed 4-1, fueled by a hat trick by top scorer and championship MVP Erin Gould (11 goals/2 assists). Sun Valley goalie Karen Morrison (100 saves overall) was tested the whole contest and stopped 32 shots.

It was the third time Salt Lake had beaten the Sunsets this season.

Sunset center Tizz Miller explained why. "They capitalized on shooting. They finished and we didn’t," she said.

Gould and Sun Valley’s Sarah Benson were named the game’s co-MVP’s. Benson was also awarded the Sofa King shirt for her highly entertaining sock dance.

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.