Suns see plenty of positives over past weekend

By Cole Parkinson
Taber Times
cparkinson@tabertimes.com

U13

The U13 Suns had one game on tap this past weekend which resulted in a 4-3 win in Medicine Hat on Sunday.

The first period saw a flurry of goals as Medicine Hat would put three on the board, while Foster Weatherhead would respond with the lone Suns’ goal with Nixen Miller and Tate Serfas drawing assists.

Down by two heading into the second frame, the Golden Suns would respond with a pair of goals from Yangming Chen (unassisted) and Truett Moeller (Liam Okell and Gracen Schooten). With the score deadlocked heading into the third, the Suns would pot a lone goal from the stick of Deven Groenenboom assisted by Miller and Serfas to seal a win. Griffin Stenger was strong in net, stopping 24 of 27 shots.

The next U13 Suns’ action comes on Nov. 27 versus Foothills Bisons with a 5:15 p.m. puck drop.

U15

On Saturday, the Suns were at home and skated to an 8-0 win over Medicine Hat SEAC Tigers.

The Suns’ offence was firing on all cylinders in the first period as they found the back of the net five times. Tait Vermeersch had two goals, while Chase Stronge, Koye Larson, and Cage Smith also sniped. In the second, the lone Suns’ tally came from Parker Young. To round out the scoring, Smith scored another in the third, before Nathan Planger scored a powerplay marker en route to an 8-0 win. Tyson Church had four assists, while Smith, Stronge, Ty Hanson, Jett Matisho, Kayden Dress, Garrett Janzen, and Cohen Zasadny had singles. Bowen Hann was perfect in net stopping all 38 shots fired his way between the pipes

On Sunday, the team travelled to Okotoks to face off against the Oilers and were handed a 9-2 loss. Barrett Van Nistelrooy and Kayden Kress found the back of the net for the Suns. Elijah Fleck and Zasadny also collected an assist each in the loss. Cashton Carriere faced 26 shots while Hann faced five in relief.

The next games for the U15 Suns come on Dec. 3 when the Oilers travel to Taber for an 8:30 p.m. match. Then on Dec. 4, the Suns travel to Olds to face the Grizzlys for a matinee game.

U18

The U18 Suns first game came on Friday night where they secured a 5-1 win over the Medicine Hat Hounds at home.

Ryan Holm kicked off the party for Taber with a goal assisted by Jaxxon Pavka and Rylan Millo in the first. Carrying a 1-0 lead into the second, the Suns would allow a goal, but also get another from Kobe Fujita (Riley Preachuk and Brinley Degenstein) to take a 2-1 lead into the final frame. In the third, it was all Suns as Heath Hansen (Connor Eldridge), Fujita (Degenstein and Preachuk), and Evan Koizumi would score to finalize the 5-1 win. Landon Porteous was solid as a rock as he stopped 31 of 32 shots in net.

The next day, the Suns came back late for a 4-4 tie with the Lethbridge Hurricanes at home.

After a scoreless first period, the levee would break open in the second as Lethbridge would score three, while the Suns saw two goals from Ryan Holm. In the third, the Canes would score first to take a two-goal lead, but with only a minute to go, Pavka would put two past the Canes’ netminder on the way to a 4-4 tie. Millo had a pair of assists, while Degenstein, Hunter Van Vaerenbergh, and Ashton Lukacs had singles. Porteous made 24 saves on 28 shots.

The U18 Suns have a three-pack this coming weekend. On Friday, they welcome in the Foothills Bisons for an 8:30 p.m. match. The team then hits the road for a Saturday game against Foothills on Saturday and then they wrap up in Medicine Hat on Sunday afternoon.