Golden Suns teams in various states as season heads toward the end

By Cole Parkinson
Taber Times

It was a weekend of three different activities for Taber Golden Suns teams as the South Central Alberta Hockey League is near its end.

U13 

The U13 Suns wrapped up their regular season last weekend with a single road game on March 1 when they took on the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Unfortunately for the Suns, this game was all Hurricanes as the home team cruised to a 14-0 win. Cale Campbell was in net for the Suns and the goalie made 29 saves on 43 shots.

This coming weekend sees the Suns head to Strathmore for the U13 League Championship Finals.

U15

It was playoff tournament weekend for the U15s as they were in Medicine Hat this past weekend looking to go on a Cinderella-type run. The tournament started on Feb. 29 when the team lined up against the Wheatland Warriors. Despite a late-game push, the team was unable to find a tying goal as they fell 4-3 in the opener. Canaan Fleck led the way with a goal and an assist, Heston Hansen had a pair of assists, Foster Weatherhead and Nixen Miller had the other goals while Bril Haraga and Liam Okell chipped in with an assist each. Dakota Hurst was solid between the pipes with a 48-save performance.

Looking to rebound in their second game, the team matched up against the Okotoks Oilers. The Oilers would dominate in shots as they skated to a 6-3 victory. Hansen had another two assists while Madix Miller, Raider Koizumi, and Ryker Orsten scored the goals for Taber. Nixen Miller and Tony King both had one assist. Griffin Stenger was busy in net as the netminder made 54 saves on 60 shots.

With their season on the line, the Golden Suns faced off against the host Medicine Hat SEAC Tigers in their final round-robin game. Thanks to a big third period, the Suns were able to rally and tie the game at 5-5 before the buzzer rang. Weatherhead led the way for Taber with a hat trick and two assists, Hansen collected one goal and an assist, King had a single goal, and Haraga, Fleck, Nash Broersen, Orsten, and Okell all had one assist. Both Taber goalies got into the game as Hurst made 16 saves on 21 shots and Stenger was perfect with 16 saves.

The tournament saw Okotoks defeat Wheatland 5-3 to take the Southern Conference while the Olds Grizzlys claimed the north title with a 7-4 win. Okotoks will now host Olds in a best-of-three playoff to establish the SCAHL U15 Champion. That team will then advance to the Hockey Alberta U15AA Provincial Championships.

U18

The U18s were off this past weekend as they prepare to hit the road to Medicine Hat this weekend for their playoff tournament. Game 1 sees them take on host Medicine Hat on March 7 for a 6:30 p.m. puck drop. Friday sees the Suns in action for two games as they kick it off with a 12:15 p.m. game against the Lethbridge Hurricanes. The final round-robin game goes at 5:45 p.m. against the East Kootenay Avalanche.