Sun Valley Youth Hockey Association Midget (ages 15-18) and PeeWee teams were back in action last weekend.
Midgets fourth in scenic Salmon
The Sun Valley Midget high school team went 2-2 and placed fourth in last weekend's Salmon tournament. A heartbreaking 4-3 overtime defeat to the Ogden (Utah) Junior Wildcats relegated Sun Valley to fourth place after 7-2 and 5-0 wins over Salmon Rapids and the Missoula (Mt.) Bruins.
Midgets coach Andrew Hebert called the overtime loss in the third-place game "the best effort of the season." Morgan Pike led all scorers with a three-goal "hat trick" in the final game to finish his four-game weekend with seven goals and one assist. More scoring:
David Dredge 2 goals/2 assists, Jackson Bates 2/1, Craig Watson 1/3, Jimmy Hague 1/2, Niels McMahon 1/2, Latner Straley 1/2, Tanner Flanigan 1/1, Caleb Crawford 1/1 and Zak Sjoberg 0/1. Also contributing were Reed Stokes and Chance McCroskey.
Sharing the goalkeeping duties for a respectable .900 save percentage over the weekend were Colby Stoecklein and Cody Levitan.
PeeWees play home games
Idaho Falls was the visiting team, but the Eagles made themselves right at home in a pair of PeeWee (ages 11-12) ice hockey games Sunday at the Sun Valley Skating Center.
Idaho Falls scored twice in the first period and twice in the second in a 4-0 shutout of the Suns in the opening game. Sun Valley goalie Willis Sanchez-Dupont made nine saves. The Suns generated eight shots on goal, but looked a little rusty, playing their first competitive game in a more than a month.
In the afternoon affair, the Suns struck first. AJ Rierden slotted a solo shot four minutes into the game. Garrett Wheeler answered for the Eagles, tying it 1-1 at the end of the period.
A pair of goals by the Eagles made it 3-1 at the end of two, and the visiting sextet scored twice in 22 seconds in the third to make it 5-1. Sun Valley came back with goals by Gage Jorgensen and Parker Weekes (Liam Jablonski/Cameron Benson) to pull within two, but the Eagles slipped one in at the buzzer for a final tally of 6-3.
Capitalizing on five power plays, Idaho Falls outshot the Suns 27-15. Sanchez-Dupont came up with 21 saves and was awarded the Wee Vest for Outstanding Effort.
The PeeWee Suns are off to the eight-team Salmon Invitational, Jan. 11-13. Sun Valley plays Idaho Falls Friday at 5:30 p.m. and goes against Ogden (Utah) at high noon Saturday.
