There were three Sun Valley women's ice hockey teams in last weekend's Debra Doom Cup three-day tourney Jan. 25-27 at Snow King Center in Jackson Hole, Wyo.—and two teams battled into their divisional championship games.
Sun Valley Sunsets, with Wendy Speth scoring five goals in four games and Lucy Chubb adding a pair, went 2-2 and earned a berth in the Wave Division title game where they fell Sunday 3-1 to the Aspen (Colo.) Mother Puckers.
Coach Johnny Ellison's Sun Valley Twisters won the "C" level Moon Division with a 3-1 record including a dramatic 3-2 overtime shootout win over Colorado Northern Lights. Lisa Wood scored five goals and first-year goalie Danae Commons was named the tournament Most Valuable Player.
Sun Valley Sunsets
Despite 21 saves by goalie Karen Morrison, Sun Valley Sunsets dropped Friday night's opening game 3-1 to the Jackson Hole Teton Passers.
Sun Valley bounced back Saturday with 2-0 and 4-3 wins over Aspen's Mother Puckers and the Provo Blades from Utah. Chubb (assist to Speth) and Sheila Naghsh (Tizz Miller) scored the goals against Aspen while Speth had the hat rick and Chubb added a single in the close 4-3 win over Provo.
Adding assists in the Provo victory were Kris Miller, Chubb, weekend "Jacket" winner Merri Whitehead and Speth. Other MVPs announced by coaches Frank Salvoni, Tuck Hall and David Stone were Morrison and Speth.
In Sunday's title game, Speth (Michele Hampton) was the scorer but the Sunsets fell short to Aspen 3-1. Also playing last weekend were Sarah Benson, Jen Embree, Nicole Perkins, Edith Wiedemann, Liza Weeks and Jill Marks.
Twisters take three wins
Traveling with a short bench of seven players and a goalie, Sun Valley Twisters borrowed players from Colorado and Boise teams and did quite well for themselves.
They won 4-1 over Jackson Hole Venom and 6-0 over Boise Black Widows but fell 2-1 over Colorado Northern Lights early Sunday morning—setting up a rematch with Colorado in the Moon Division title contest.
Lisa Wood, game MVP Sara Schroeder and defenseman Jennifer Biondi scored against Jackson. Goalie Commons had an incredible shutout over Boise and Wood had the three-goal hat trick, to go with two goals by Tristan Gralenski and one by Dana Price. MVPs for the 6-0 triumph were Commons, Wood and Gralenski.
The line of Gralenski, Schroeder and Price lit the light in the first meeting against Colorado, Gralenski scoring from Schroeder. Strong defense enabled Biondi to take away the game MVP honor.
Sunday's exciting and well-balanced rematch with Colorado ended up 2-2 after regulation time, Schroeder (Price) and a Boise player scoring. Wood of the Twisters scored first with a strong shot in the shootout and a Boise pickup tallied the decider for Sun Valley on the fifth shooter. Commons earned the game MVP.
Other players responsible for the Twisters winning the title were Laura Blash and Susanne Connor.
Ketchum Five Star
In the four-team River Division, Ketchum Five Star Kitchen Designs coached by Chris Edwards and Chris Zarkos went 0-3 but put together some exciting moments in three games Saturday.
Five Star fell behind 2-0 in the third period against Northern Lights of Colorado and then equalized on goals by Dotty Sarchett (assists to Jini Griffith and Kelli Kerns) and Kipp Mills, with a beautiful top shelf shot assisted by Casey Mills. Five Star outshot their opponents 26-7 but fell 3-2 in the final score. In her first start in goal, Kerry Bozza played well.
Jackson Hole Shooters and Bozeman blanked Five Star 1-0 and 6-0 in other games. The game against Jackson Hole was outstanding—fast, aggressive and clean. Others on the trip: Lacie Hernandez, Jeannie Kiel, Nancy Parsons-Brown, Bege Reynolds, Sara Shaffer, Jody Zarkos and Kelley Sinnott.
A happy group of Sun Valley Twisters celebrates their Moon Division championship Sunday at Snow King Center in Jackson Hole, Wyo.
Courtesy photo by Josh Commons
