Finishing one year and focusing on the next, the Sun Valley Suns made good on New Year's resolutions of solid defense and smart play Saturday.
Sun Valley's senior men's hockey team set the tone for 2006 by shutting out the Manchester Mountaineers for the first time in 18 meetings with the tough squad from McCall.
A renewed defensive focus, combined with goalie Colin Zulianello's superb play, propelled the Suns to a convincing 4-0 shutout win over an extremely capable McCall team.
One night after losing 4-3 on a late goal, the Suns (3-1) toughened up on their checks and regrouped nicely to avoid a two-game sweep. Some 400 fans watched Saturday's finale.
Suns coach Chris Benson looked to his defensemen—Chris Warrington, Eric Demment, Kris Webster, Josh Jacobson and Ivars Muzis—to set the tone for Saturday's game. They shut down an active McCall offense, led by ex-Idaho Steelhead Cal Ingraham.
And Zulianello, 27, a former Idaho Steelhead and Las Vegas Wranglers minor league hockey goalie, stopped all 39 shots for the shutout. Zulianello, from Thunder Bay, Ont., tended the net for Colorado College from 1997-2001.
He got the only goal he needed with 24 seconds gone.
The Suns came out gunning early as Jamie Ellison's shot on net set up a rebound for John Stevens and the game's first goal. The Suns then added two more unanswered goals before the first intermission.
Center Ryan McDonald assisted on both, the first to scrappy forward Ryan Enrico and the second to defenseman Kris Webster who blasted it through traffic on the power play to make the score 3-0.
Enrico, who felt bad about taking an untimely penalty that led to McCall's winning goal Friday, was a constant factor in Saturday's contest. He used his speed to doggedly pursue the forecheck as he buzzed around the ice, out-skating various Mountaineers.
Vilnis Nikolaisons was also in top form, assisting twice, the first on Enrico's goal and the second on Ellison's insurance score midway through the second period.
Benson said that forechecking from McDonald, Enrico, Caleb Baukol and Scott Winkler was a major factor in shutting down the McCall attack. "Everybody (on the forecheck) was stronger tonight," he said.
Although Benson complimented his defense as being "a lot tighter throughout the whole game," McCall was far from inert as they fired off 39 shots to Sun Valley's 41. In the end, the difference was the Suns' own former Steelhead player, Zulianello.
"Colin came up huge in the second period. There were a few shots that could have put us back in a tie game," Benson said respecting a Mountaineer offense that had averaged over five goals a game against the Suns.
Midway through the second period, McCall turned up the heat in the Suns zone, out-shooting the home team 15-12 in that period and testing Zulianello's form and endurance since the netminder aggravated an old groin injury in a Dec. 11 win over the Park City Generals.
The newest Sun standout was up to the challenge this New Year's Eve, making stop after confident stop, including one showstopper at 7:16 of the second period. After a Suns defensive miscue, McCall shuttled the puck out of the corner towards the net and a waiting Cal Ingraham.
Ingraham had time enough for a picnic as he stared down Zulianello and flicked a hard high shot to the goalie's glove side. Zulianello saw the puck leave the stick and shot up his left arm, catching the shot and dramatically shutting down the best chance the Mountaineers would get all night.
Upcoming Games
The Suns have a number of home games this month, starting with the Weyburn (Saskatchewan) Devils from Canada this weekend, Jan. 6-7. It's the first visit for the Devils.
The games should be a serious test for the Suns. Weyburn is currently 12-0 in a competitive and organized Canadian League, Benson said. They have four players with recent professional experience, have outscored opponents 130-20 this season, have a goalie of equal caliber to the Suns' Zulianello and will likely be one of the few teams bringing a full 20-man roster to Sun Valley.
"Our guys are going to have put in a full 60 minutes of hard work every night and with a few lucky bounces, hopefully we can score more goals than they do," said Benson.
The games start at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday in Sun Valley.
Next weekend, Jan. 13-14, the Suns take on one of New York's best league teams, St. Nicks. And on Jan. 20-21, the ReMax Rangers of Boston come to town for a two-game series.
Sun Valley Suns center Ryan McDonald sweeps up the ice, backed by wing Scott Winkler, during the New Year's weekend hockey series against the Manchester Mountaineers from McCall. The Suns won 4-0 Saturday. Photo by Willy Cook
