Golden Suns looking for a “W”

By Cal Braid

Taber Times

The last two weeks were a bit of a rough go for the Taber Golden Suns. The best outcome in any of their box scores was a tie. Here’s a rundown of where the teams are at.

U13

In the South Central Alberta Hockey League (SCAHL), the U13 Suns are listed in fifth place in the conference at 5-21-2. On Feb. 12, they lost 6-3 to the Wheatland Braves. They found themselves in a deep 4-0 hole after the first period and then down 6-1 after the second. It was too much to overcome, and their two third period goals on the power play were too little, too late. Nelson Sonna Soufo netted their second period goal and in the third Ryker Orsten scored at 12:36 and Ben Van Der Linde scored late at 0:05.

Their Feb. 18 game against the Medicine Hat Hounds didn’t go much better. The Hounds scored 46 seconds into the first period. Van Der Linde picked up an early goal of his own at 17:41 and Hudson Stenger put one in at 7:25, but the Suns again found themselves far behind after the first, with the Hounds leading 9-2. The second period was quiet scoring-wise – the Hounds scored once – but in the third things opened up a bit again. Van Der Linde and Caanan Fleck scored goals 40 seconds apart between the 12 and 11 minute mark, but the Hounds heaped on three more to soundly beat the Suns 13-4.

U15

At 2-26-2, the losses have far outweighed the wins for the U15 Suns. They had a single game listed on the schedule against the Lethbridge Hurricanes. On Feb. 12 at the Logan Boulet Arena, they went point for point against the Canes and skated off with a 5-5 tie. Devin Groenenboom scored on a power play at 0:49 of the first period and the game was tied after one. Truett Moeller netted a goal early in the second and Chase Stronge added one late in the same period to give the Suns a 3-2 lead going into the third. The Canes responded by scoring three in the third, but the Suns’ Lincoln Weiss scored at 6:52 and then Stronge did the same with only 1:20 left in the game. The Suns had five penalties in the third, and the Canes scored on two of them. Either way, the tie was a better outcome than another loss for the U15 team.

U18

The U18 team played back-to-back weekends against the Lethbridge Hurricanes. On Feb. 10, the Canes struck fast in a penalty-fest of a first period. Twelve penalties were called – six per team – and the Canes led 5-1. Hayden Smith got the Suns’ only goal on a power play in the first, and from there on the Suns were blanked. The penalties slowed down a little after the first with each team picking up two in the second and two in the third. Oddly, the Suns had 49 shots on goal to the Canes’ 31, but the Suns couldn’t capitalize. The Canes won 7-1.

The following weekend the two teams met for a rematch and the outcome was only slightly different. The Canes beat the Suns again, this time 5-2, and the shots on goal were 31-29 in the Canes’ favour. Connor Eldridge scored for the Suns at 12:26 of the second, and Heath Hansen got one late in the third. Fourteen penalties were called in the game, but no power play goals were scored. The U18 team is listed at 11-16-4 and is in fourth place in the south conference.