SUNS shadow Moon and take two

SUNS HOCKEY SUMMARY

FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2024

SUNS 11, MOON 7

Boston Moon 0.................. 4 .............. 3 ..................7

Sun Valley Suns 5.................. 4 .............. 2 .................11

FIRST PERIOD—(1) SV, Max Tardy 14 (Justin Taylor), 2:05. (2) SV, Tardy 15 (Nick Curry, Matt Anderson), 6:53. (3) SV, Owen Powers 9 (Ace Cowans, Parker Weekes), 13:43. (4) SV, Weekes 19 (Drew Tallet, Ace Cowans), 14:11. (5) SV, Sean O’Grady 5 (Tardy, Weekes), 19:40.

SECOND PERIOD—(6) Boston, Darrell Hay (unassisted), 0:46. (7) SV, Taylor 17 (O’Grady, D.J. Robinson), 1:47. (8) SV, Joey Sides 20 (Robinson), 6:38. (9) Boston, Jake Moscatel (Derek Gulizia, Mike Murphy), 7:01. (10) Boston, Jefferson Dahl (Kyle Mitsunaga), 7:44. (11) SV, Derek Grimes 4 (Tallet), 12:59. (12) Boston, Dennis Breslin (Moscatel, Gulizia), 15:19. (13) SV, Tardy 16 (Anderson, Doug Yeates), 19:44, hat trick goal.

THIRD PERIOD—(14) Boston, Dahl (Mitsunaga, Terry Ryan), 3:39. (15) Boston, Ryan (Mitsunaga), 5:50. (16) SV, Sides 21 (Taylor, Robinson), 9:41, power play goal. (17) SV, Powers 10 (Weekes, Ace Cowans), 14:37. (18) Boston, Ryan Clark (Taylor Topousis), 16:44.

SHOTS ON GOAL—Boston Moon 15-13-17 for 45; Sun Valley 12-16-14 for 42.

GOALIES—Boston Moon, Brian Quinn (31 saves); Sun Valley, Ben McLean (38 saves, 10-2 record).

OFFICIALS—Max Battimo and James Parker (referees); Tyler Hanson and Drew Barsch (linesmen).

SPECTATOR COUNT—680.

NOTES—With its 20-4 season record, Sun Valley improved its 49-season franchise mark to 757-311-29 (.690 winning percentage) covering 1,097 games. Third-year head coach Ryan Enrico (54-14-0, .794) has improved on that overall record. “We have been blessed with a lot of talent,” said Enrico, still the No. 4 all-time Suns scoring leader during his 18 playing years……..Making his first-ever Suns appearance was 41-year-old Matt Anderson from West Islip, N.Y. Anderson played 128 games for UMass-Amherst from 2002-07 with 34 goals and 91 points. His 12-year professional career included AHL stints with Chicago and Albany, followed by foreign competition in Moscow, Croatia and Sweden from 2013-19. A right wing, Anderson’s turn at center for the Suns helped make wings Max Tardy and Nick Curry even more effective in controlling the puck and creating a multitude of scoring chances…..It was good to see Idaho Steelheads Hall of Famer Marty Flichel back on the Campion ice, playing the Boston Moon blueline with former Steelheads teammate Darrell Hay. Flichel traveled up from his Boise-area home to play nine Suns seasons, with 36 goals and 75 assists for 111 points……..Moon forward Jefferson Dahl, who finished the weekend with 4 goals and 6 points, also played for the Suns in the past. Dahl, 34, out of Wisconsin, played 150 games for NCAA Division 1 Univ. of Wisconsin from 2011-14. Dahl’s Idaho Steelheads stint from 2015-18 included 241 games and 210 points, with 77 goals……….Native Canadian Terry Ryan centered the Moon line with Dahl and Kyle Mitsunaga. A power forward known for mixing it up, Ryan was the NHL Montreal Canadiens eighth-round draft pick in 1995. His pro career ended in 2003 with the ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones. Just this past January, Ryan played his first pro game in 21 years when he was summoned to help out during a team flu outbreak and played a game with his hometown Newfoundland Growlers………Over their 18 home games, the Suns drew 11,549 fans, an average of 641 spectators per game. Counting the Dec. 22 holiday exhibition that attracted 588 spectators, the total Suns home count was 12,137 for 19 dates, an average 639 each game………That represented quite an increase

over the 9,181 spectators for 18 home games last season, which averaged 510 fans per game……Biggest home crowds this season were 1,859 for the New Year’s Eve weekend series with McCall Mountaineers, followed by 1,511 for East Coast Gutter Snipes, and 1,409 for the New England Predators and of course the 1,451 for the Boston Moon finale……Biggest single-night crowd was 935 for the Dec. 30 contest against McCall.....The Suns have played a Boston Moon team six times since 2021 and now own an undefeated 6-0 record with Boston, with 53-26 goals-against…….

SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2024

SUNS 11, MOON 7

Boston Moon 1.................. 3 .............. 3 ..................7

Sun Valley Suns 3.................. 3 .............. 5 .................11

FIRST PERIOD—(1) SV, Justin Taylor 18 (Ben Barton, D.J. Robinson), 6:53. (2) SV, Owen Powers 11 (Ace Cowans, Doug Yeates), 11:41. (3) Boston, Kyle Mitsunaga (Jefferson Dahl, Terry Ryan), 17:49. (4) SV, Matt Anderson 1 (Robinson, Nick Curry), 19:43.

SECOND PERIOD—(5) Boston, Mike Murphy (Jake Moscatel, Marty Flichel), 4:16. (6) SV, Anderson 2 (Max Tardy, Eric Demment), 5:40. (7) Boston, Moscatel (Murphy), 6:21. (8) Boston, Mitsunaga (Ryan, Dahl), 8:42. (9) SV, Taylor 19 (Tardy, Sean O’Grady), 14:58, power play goal. (10) SV, Robinson 5 (Nick Curry), 17:21.

THIRD PERIOD—(11) Boston, Moscatel (Chad Filteau), 2:33. (12) SV, Joey Sides 22 (Taylor, Demment), 2:44. (13) Boston, Dahl (Mitsunaga, Flichel), 12:21, power play goal. (14) SV, Powers 12 (Yeates, Demment), 13:40. (15) SV, Tardy 17 (Nick Curry, Anderson), 15:19. (16) Boston, Dahl (Flichel, Mitsunaga), 17:54. (17) SV, Dylan Shamburger 12 (Demment, Sides), 18:05. (18) SV, Powers 13 (Yeates), 19:21, empty net and hat trick goal.

SHOTS ON GOAL—Boston Moon 15-12-13 for 40; Sun Valley 21-17-17 for 55.

GOALIES—Boston Moon, Brian Quinn (58 minutes, 10 goals, 44 saves); SV, Tripp Hutchinson (33 saves, 10-2 record).

OFFICIALS—Max Battimo and James Parker (referees); Dan Choma and Eric Wingard (linesmen).

SPECTATOR COUNT—771 (1,451 weekend).

NOTES—With his 4 assists tonight, 20th-year Suns defenseman Eric Demment (66 goals, 136 assists for 202 points) surged over the 200-point Suns career scoring mark……..Leading Suns scorer for the weekend with 7 points was Max Tardy (4 goals, 3 assists) followed by Justin Taylor (6 points) and D.J. Robinson (6 points). In all, 16 different Suns had a goal or an assist as the home team outpointed Boston Moon 61-35 on the scoresheet. Veteran Suns defensemen Doug Yeates and Demment each had 4 assists for the weekend…….Former Suns forward Kyle Mitsunaga topped the Moon with 7 points (2 goals, 5 assists). Last year, Mitsunaga played 20 games for the Suns with 10 goals and 6 assists ……..Seventh-year forward Max Tardy from University of Minnesota-Duluth moved closer to 200 career Suns points. Tardy now has 95 goals and 101 assists for 196 points…….Justin Taylor scored the first goal of the season for the Suns and Owen Powers notched the last goal…….Suns forward lines for tonight’s “Denim Night” finale were Powers-Ace Cowans-Parker Weekes, Tardy-Matt Anderson-Nick Curry, Joey Sides-Justin Taylor-Dylan Shamburger, Taylor Rothgeb-Derek Grimes-Trevor Thomas. Defensemen were Eric Demment-Doug Yeates, Sean O’Grady-D.J. Robinson, Ben Barton-Drew Tallet…….Moon lines were Jefferson Dahl-Terry Ryan-Mitsunaga, Derek Gulizia-Mike Murphy-Jake Moscatel, Ryan Santana-Chad Filteau-Ryan Clark. Defensemen were Darrell Hay-Marty Flichel, Dennis Breslin-Taylor Topousis…….The Jackson Hole Moose (19-12-1 including 3-4 in overtime games) finished their season with a 10-6 and 7-4 sweep of Vermont Flex March 15-16 at Snow King Center in Wyoming. Leading Moose season scorers for another year were A.J. Sanders (26 goals, 59 assists for 85 points) and Drew Akins (25 goals, 40 points for 65 points). The Moose were 180-138 in goals-against. Top goalies were Robbie Leslie (10-6, 4.18 goals-against) and Nick Krauss (9-6, 4.47)……Justin Taylor (116 goals, 111 assists for 227 Suns points) moved past Chas Riopel into No. 15 on the Suns all-time scoring list.

Mike Curry (68 goals, 175 points for 243 points) stands at No. 14 on the list.