Sun Valley vs. Jackson Hole.
It's a rivalry that has spanned years, ages and even different sports.
The battle of wills came to the forefront in the ninth annual Sun Valley Ski Town Classic women's ice hockey tournament last weekend. Teams from the two resorts faced off in two hard-fought title games Sunday.
The Sun Valley Fury (4-0) came back from a 2-1 third-period deficit to defeat the Jackson Hole Chuters 4-2 and claim the "B" bracket title. Boise Hericanes knocked off the Wasatch Wings 1-0 to finish in third place.
In the "A" division, Jackson's Teton Passers slotted a last-gasp goal with 1:13 remaining to edge the Sun Valley Sunsets 1-0 in a memorable championship clash Sunday. Tournament MVP was Sun Valley's Wendy Speth, who scored nine goals in four games.
The consolation title went to the Boise Phillies (named in honor of late coach and former Sun Valley Sun Phil Neville). The Phillies, sporting Neville's college colors of maroon and gold, beat the Provo Blades 5-3.
The tournament attracted 10 teams from Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and Montana. The Sun Valley Women' Hockey Organization extended its thanks to organizers, officials, sponsors and fans for a terrific weekend.
Fury becomes the bride
Sun Valley Fury has plenty of experience being the proverbial bridesmaid instead of the bride. Last weekend, new players and a hard working, hard-nosed attitude paid dividends in the team's annual home tournament.
The Fury played four, and won all four by a combined 17-4 score.
"Every time we're out there we keep learning how to play better hockey," coach Chris Edwards said. "Everyone played smarter by a little bit and the team showed that as a whole."
Strike up "Here's Comes the Bride."
The Fury and Boise Hericanes led off the tournament Friday and Sun Valley kick-started its weekend with a 5-1 victory. The team's tourney MVP, center Jini Griffith (10 points), tallied two goals. Slotting singles were Kelli Kerns, Dotty Sarchett and Kris Josey.
Skating against the University of Montana Saturday, captain Bege Reynolds lit the light 35 seconds into the game—a 6-1 win for the Fury. Griffith and Sarchett added two goals each.
The Wasatch Wings (1-3) played their way to fourth place, based on the performance of goalie Jane Walker. In four games, Walker stopped 136 shots, including 48 in a game against the Fury Saturday night.
Walker frustrated the Fury early on and it was not until the second period that blueliner Jody Zarkos broke through on a goal mouth scramble. Josey provided insurance with 1:18 left in the game for a 2-0 win—the Fury's closest call. Griffith had both assists.
The victory cemented a slot for the Fury in the championship against the Jackson Hole Chuters. Heading into the final both teams stood at 3-0 and Jackson had not been scored upon.
Fury changed that.
In a gritty end-to-end game, with enough momentum changes to warrant Xanax, the Fury struck first. The slippery Kelli Kerns broke through and converted on a pass by Josey to make it 1-0 in the first period.
Jackson equalized midway through the second stanza and got the go-ahead goal at the five-minute mark. The goal coincided with a fight between two players (who were ejected) and Edwards thought the timing of the fracas played to his team's advantage.
"I think it took the focus off the goal. We didn't really pay much attention to it and they did not really celebrate it (our goal) because of everything that was going on," he said.
Edwards called a timeout and told his team to settle down and get back skating hard. The Fury did just that, out-shooting the Chuters 10-3 in the third and scoring three goals to win 4-2. Sarchett netted the game-tying goal at the 7:57 mark and Josey slotted the game-winner a mere 14 seconds later.
"I think we jumped over a big hurdle with the win. Two years ago in the championship we blew a two-goal lead. I don't remember us getting down and coming back up like this," Edwards said. "I'm proud we played good, smart hockey and played so well as a team."
Finals MVP Joanie Whitcomb made 14 saves between the pipes in the championship, one save fewer than in her three previous outings.
Recording points were Jini Griffith 4 goals/6 assists, Dotty Sarchett 4/2, Kris Josey 3/2, Kelli Kerns 2/3, Casey Mills 1/4, Bege Reynolds 1/3, Nancy Parsons-Brown 0/3, Mia Edsall 1/0, Jody Zarkos 1/0 and Heidi Ottley 0/1. Nicky Ellsbree and Jeannie Kiel were also on the championship squad.
Sunsets settle for second place
If they are going to rock out to bad pop, the Sunsets might want to consider changing their pre-game music choice from Abba's "Dancing Queen" to Olivia Newton John's "Let's Get Physical." The song is more apt considering the intensity and focus Sun Valley brought to the ice last weekend.
Coming off a less-than-polished performance at Jackson's home tournament last month, the Sunsets regrouped and reloaded for their home tilt. They fired on all cylinders, outscored opponents 18-4 and out-shot their foes by more than two-to-one.
Six different players found the back of the net, as the Sunsets opened with a 7-0 whitewash of Provo Friday night, out-shooting the Blades 38-9.
Center Wendy Speth ripped four goals in a 7-1 win over Boise Saturday morning. Michele Hampton scored twice. Once more, the margin of shots swung in Sun Valley's favor 39-8.
The first showdown between Sun Valley and Jackson Hole was Saturday night—and the Sunsets jumped out to a 1-0 lead with Speth scoring the first of her three goals just 38 seconds after the opening faceoff.
Sun Valley tacked on two more goals in the first period (Sheila Naghsh/Speth) and staked itself to a 3-1 advantage. Midway through the second, Jackson cut the lead to one with Megan Field converting, but Sun Valley's defense clamped down allowing the Teton Passers just three shots in the third and Speth lit the light one more time for a final score of 4-2.
"Wendy played out of her head," team captain Sarah Benson remarked. Goalie Karen Morrison made 16 saves and the Sunsets fired 27 shots at Jackson keeper Kate McGraw.
According to Jackson Hole's coach Lorne Maltenfort, the Passers weren't rattled by the loss.
He said, "That was Kate McGraw's first game at the A level and we just wanted to get that one under her belt. There was only one game that mattered."
Sunday's rematch in the championship was a punishing lesson in physics. Every action brought forth an equally physical reaction. Like two heavyweight contenders the teams went toe-to-toe, never giving an inch.
Backstopped by two great performances by Sun Valley's Morrison and Jackson Hole's McGraw, the squads skated two scoreless periods. But Jackson Hole held the shooting advantage 13-9 and limited their hosts to just two shots in the second period.
In the third, Morrison skated out of the net and made three point-blank saves on odd-man breaks, but Sun Valley had its chances too.
Tizz Miller, Speth, Nicole Perkins and Kris Miller had legitimate chances. McGraw, bouncing back from the loss in the B final, held her ground.
With the game looking like it was headed to overtime, Jackson Hole cracked the goose egg. Bobbi Reyes converted on a give-and-go with Kathy Roe to score with 1:13 on the clock.
Only a minute remained and Sunsets coach Chris Benson pulled goalie Morrison. He rotated six skaters on the ice, including Speth, Nagshsh, Sarah Benson, Liza Weekes, Jen Embree, Tizz Miller and Nicole Perkins.
A minute of madness ensued as the Sunsets hustled hard for the equalizer.
They nearly netted it, getting off three shots, with Speth ringing a close one off the post. In the final 20 seconds McGraw lost both her stick and glove, but ultimately not the game.
"It was the craziest thing I have ever seen," Passers coach Maltenfort said of the final minute. "We match up so well with Sun Valley. We're mirror images and if we played 10 times each team would each win five."
Morrison and Reyes were named the game's Most Valuable Players. Speth, with 9 goals and 2 assists, was voted MVP of the tournament.
Michele Hampton had 2 goals and 4 assists, Sheila Naghsh 2/3, Tizz Miller 1/4, Kris Miller 1/2, Julie Bell 1/1, Sarah Benson 1/1, Christl Holzl 1/1, Jen Embree 0/2, Nicole Perkins 0/1 and Larsen Peterson 0/1. Twyla Bulcher and Liza Weekes skated on defense for the Sunsets.
Check next week's Local Life for team photos and more pictures from the big weekend.
Tournament MVP Wendy Speth scores a Sun Valley Sunsets goal. Photo by Willy Cook
