Suns teams busy over first weekend of December

Posted on December 8, 2021 by Taber Times

By Cole Parkinson
Taber Times
cparkinson@tabertimes.com

The first weekend of December saw plenty of games on the schedule for Taber ‘AA’ Golden Suns teams as they continued their South Central Alberta Hockey League regular seasons.

U13

The U13 Golden Suns had a pair of games this past weekend.

On Saturday, they hit the road for a game in Lethbridge against Hurricanes White. In a tightly contested game, the Suns would eventually skate to a 3-2 win.

Heston Hansen would score the first Suns goal in the first period with Truett Moeller drawing the assist, though Lethbridge would answer shortly after.

In the second, Mason Noble would pot a Suns’ goal with Nixen Miller drawing an assist — but like the first period, the Hurricanes would score shortly after to tie the game.

In the final frame, Noble would put another past the Canes net mind with Arlo Heal and Devin Groenenboom collecting assists. Unlike the first two periods, Lethbridge didn’t have an answer as the Golden Suns would win 3-2. Griffin Stenger stopped 24 of 26 shots in the Suns win.

On Sunday, the Suns returned home for another matchup against the Foothills Bisons. Like previous results against Foothills, the Suns would skate to a 6-1 win. Arlo Heal collected two goals and an assist, Foster Weatherhead had a goal and an assist, Curtis Martin had three assists, and Nixen Miller had two assists. Yanming Chen and Groenenboom had a single goal each, while Moeller, Madix Miller, and Liam Okell had an assist each. Liam Slomp posted 22 saves in the win.

With the Suns on a five-game winning streak, they have a pair of games this coming weekend. On Saturday, Hurricanes White come to Taber for a 3 p.m. puck drop. Then on Sunday, the Suns head north for a 1:45 p.m. puck drop against Red Deer Motors.

The Suns currently sit alone in second place in the South Conference with a 9-2-1 record and 19 points.

U15

A pair of games over the weekend led to back-to-back losses for the U15 Suns.

On Friday night in Taber, the Okotoks Oilers skated to a 7-3 win. Jett Matisho, Chase Strong, and Barrett Van Nistelrooy had the Sun goals, while Mason Seibel, Tait Vermeersch, Tage Jensen, Koye Larson, Parker Young, and Cage Smith had an assist. Ashton Carriere was busy in the blue paint as he faced 47 shots.

On Saturday evening, the Golden Suns were off to Olds to take on the Grizzlys. In a high scoring game, the Grizzlys would secure a 10-5 win. Smith would collect a hat trick in the game while Matisho had a goal and an assist, Parker Young had a pair of assists, Larson had a single goal, and Nathan Planger, Kayden Dress, and Garrett Janzen had one assist each. Bowen Hann saw 39 shots fired his way between the pipes.

This coming weekend sees another pair of games for the U15 Suns as they welcome in the West Central Tigers on Saturday for a 5:30 p.m. puck drop at the Taber Arena. On Sunday, they hit the road to Lethbridge to face off against the Hurricanes for a 2:45 p.m. start.

The Suns sit in sixth place in the South Conference with a 4-9-0 record and eight points.

U18

The U18 Suns had a lone game on their schedule this past weekend when they hit the road to Okotoks.

In a one-sided affair, the Oilers would dispatch the Suns easily with a 13-2 win.

Rhett Klemen and Ryan Holm had the Sun markers, while Jasper Lyle, Rylan Millo, and Jaxxon Pavka would collect an assist each.

Landon Porteous got the start and stopped 32 of 40 shots, while Kieran Hancock stopped 12 of 17 in relief.

Coming up next weekend, the U18 Suns see a full slate of games as they have three games on tap.

On Friday night, the Foothills Bisons travel to Taber for an 8 p.m. puck drop. Saturday evening sees the Golden Suns welcome in the Wheatland Chiefs for an 8 p.m. game and then on Sunday, the team hits the road to Calgary for a game against CRAA Blue for a 3:45 p.m. start.

The U18 Suns currently have a record of 6-8-2 and 14 points which has them sitting in fourth place in the South Division.