Sunday was a long day of close, intense action at the 11th annual Western States Shootout. Six of nine games were decided by one goal yesterday—four went to overtime and one needed a shootout to determine a winner. Another sign of the parity at this event is the fact that only four of the 18 teams managed to make it through their first two games unscathed. The Fresno Monsters, Idaho Junior Steelheads, Boulder Bison and Texas Junior Brahmas carry perfect 2-0-0 marks into Monday. The Valencia Flyers and Arizona Redhawks, both 1-0-1, are the other two teams who have not suffered a regulation loss yet here in Las Vegas.
Today’s slate of games features a re-match of the 2011 Thorne Cup championship series and the 2011 USA Hockey Tier III Junior A national semifinal when the Idaho Junior Steelheads take on the El Paso Rhinos at 3:00 p.m. on the South Rink.
San Diego Gulls 5, Dallas Ice Jets 4 (shootout)
The Dallas Ice Jets came back from 3-1 and 4-3 deficits, but the San Diego Gulls ultimately prevailed, 5-4, in a shootout. D Tommy Mines (1991) scored his second goal of the season with 1:57 remaining to force overtime. San Diego’s F Zenyth Hamil scored the deciding goal in the ninth round of the shootout. G Reed Kinsey of the Gulls made 29 saves and stopped eight of nine shooters to win his third consecutive decision. G Michael Baldwin (1992) came on in relief for Dallas and allowed just one goal in 41:42 but took the tough-luck shootout loss. The Ice Jets are 1-1-1 here at the Western States Shootout while San Diego evened their record at 1-1-0.
Fresno Monsters 3, Southern Oregon Spartans (NORPAC) 2
The Fresno Monsters won their second one-goal game against a tough opponent here in Las Vegas when they defeated the NORPAC’s first-place team, the Southern Oregon Spartans, by a 3-2 score. Twice the Monsters took a one-goal lead and twice the Spartans tied things up. F Christopher Clark (1992) gave Fresno their third lead of the game at 12:15 of the second half and this time they held on. G Marcus Harbison (1991) made 34 saves to improve his personal record to 14-0-0/1.86/.912. Southern Oregon’s G Derek Moser (1993) was busy, facing 50 shots and stopping 47.
El Paso Rhinos 3, Cheyenne Stampede 2 (overtime)
F Trey Hughes (1993) scored his 16th goal of the season 3:50 into overtime as the El Paso Rhinos defeated the Cheyenne Stampede, 3-2. Hughes has points in six of his last seven games (5-5-10 in that span). F Ryan Carroll (1992) of Cheyenne scored at 19:43 of the second half to tie the game, 2-2. F Dallas Szustak (1993) figured in all three El Paso goals, giving him eight points (3-5-8) in his last four games. El Paso’s G Brandon Smolarek (1992) stopped 34 of 36 shots while Cheyenne netminder G Michael Porter (1992) made 37 saves. Porter has started both games at the showcase for the Stampede, allowing just five goals on 64 shots, but has a 0-1-1 record to show for it.\
New Mexico Renegades 3, Valencia Flyers 2 (overtime)
F Jon Voyles (1992) scored 10 goals in his first 10 games for the New Mexico Renegades this season, then went on a four-game drought. He picked a good time to start finding the next again. Voyles completed a New Mexico comeback with the overtime winner as the Renegades defeated the Valencia Flyers, 3-2. Valencia jumped out to a 2-0 lead just 2:54 into the game, but the Renegades battled back to tie it by halftime. A scoreless second half resulted in overtime. Despite the loss, Valencia picked up an important point in the Western Division race. The Flyers have picked up three of a possible four points and remain tied for third place in the division race—four points ahead of fifth-place Phoenix. G Eric Messer (1993) has started both games for the Renegades at the showcase, facing 76 shots and stopping 70. G Stephen Palmer (1993) has helped Valencia to a 1-0-1 record by turning aside 61 of 65 shots in the two games. New Mexico evened their showcase record at 1-1-0.
Park City Moose 4, Dallas Snipers 3
The Park City Moose scored four times in the second half to defeat the Dallas Snipers, 4-3, for their first win of the 2011 Western States Shootout. F Skyler Metcalfe (1992) and F Tyler McConnel (1992) each scored two goals for the Moose. Metcalfe, who scored the game-winning goal at 19:59, also added an assist. F Arnie Osuna’s eighth goal in the last seven games gave Dallas a 1-0 lead. Both starting goaltenders, G Nick Poulos (1992) for Dallas and G Tommy Courtney (1992) for Park City, were seeing their first action at the showcase. Both teams are now 1-2-0.
Boulder Bison 5, Phoenix Knights 2
A day after knocking off the El Paso Rhinos, the Boulder Bison kept things rolling with a 5-2 win over the Phoenix Knights. F Jon Eades gave Phoenix a 1-0 lead with a power play goal 4:44 into the game, but Boulder’s F Dylan Meier (1992) scored the next two goals, putting the Bison up 2-1. Boulder would build up a 5-1 lead and Meier completed the hat trick with a power play goal at 14:40 of the second half. F Taylor Porrier (1992) also scored for the Bison, breaking a six-game point drought. Eades scored again, with just over five minutes remaining in the game, to close out the scoring. F Chris Guidotti (1991) assisted on two goals, giving him 49 points (14-35-49) and sole possession of the WSHL scoring lead. G Dax Deadrick (1993) made 28 saves and lowered his season goals-against average to 2.20 which places him fifth in the league. Phoenix enjoyed more power plays (1-for-7) than Boulder (1-for-2) but the Bison out-shot the Knights 40-30 for the game. G Alex Palumbo (1992), making just his seventh appearance of the season for Phoenix, made 35 saves and took the loss.
Texas Junior Brahmas 2, Arizona Redhawks 1 (overtime)
D Shaun Foster scored just 26 seconds into sudden-death overtime to give the Texas Junior Brahmas a 2-1 win over the Arizona Redhawks and a 2-0 record at the showcase. It was the third goal of the season for Foster, who ranks second in the WSHL with 137 penalty minutes. F Quade Hamlin (1994) of Texas scored the only goal of the first half. It came on the power play 9:50 into the game. From that point, the two teams would play over 33 minutes of scoreless hockey until the Redhawks tied it up with a goal from F Matthew Mehlhaff (1991) at 17:57 of the second half. Arizona netminder G Andrew Barletta (1991) had his second strong performance of the showcase. He has started both games for Arizona, posting a 1-0-1 record and stopping 65 of 69 shots. G Joakim Moritz (1991) was between the pipes for the Junior Brahmas. He stopped 26 of 27 shots to pick up his sixth win in his last seven decisions.
Ogden Mustangs 5, Long Beach Bombers 3
The Ogden Mustangs picked up their second win of the showcase, 5-3 over the Long Beach Bombers, and maintained their four-point lead over the Park City Moose for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Mountain Division. Park City won earlier in the day, drawing to within two points of the Mustangs. Ogden out-shot Long Beach 47-25 in the game and converted two of five power play opportunities. F Alex Pizzaro (1993) figured in four of the five goals for the Mustangs (2-2-4) while F Kevin Collins (1992) and F Devon Detilleaux (1992) each contributed three points. Three different skaters scored for the Bombers, including F Robby Johnson (1991) who also added an assist. G Alex Glockner (1993) made 22 saves for his second straight win while G Salvatore Tecci (1991) matched his season high with 42 saves in a losing effort for Long Beach