The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Host Summit County in Gunnison this weekend
The Gunnison Blades U19 girls’ hockey team carried their momentum through the holidays with four wins on the Front Range last weekend to improve their record to 10-2.
The Blades JV squad, anchored by the efforts of Bradley Santelli and Kaitlyn Seifert, had a solid weekend as well, posting two wins out of four games, which bodes well for the future of the Blades program.
The Blades were missing captain Marissa Lambert and Madison Lambert but got a boost from the return of Jessie D’Aquila. And while they only had eight skaters plus a goalie, the Blades didn’t miss a beat, scoring 25 goals over four games, with Hailey Pike and Ali McGuire doing most of the damage.
They opened the weekend against Colorado Select U16, a highly competitive AA program with a penchant for physical play.
The Blades fell behind 2-0 in the first period, but came back to rattle off four goals for the 4-2 win. Ali McGuire netted three goals, with Ashley Crittendon icing the win, scoring the Blades’ fourth goal with two minutes left to play.
“The girls pulled it together and started playing hockey,” says coach Tony Lambert. “We definitely took it to them.”
The Blades closed the day with a 9-0 crushing of the Colorado Select U19 squad. McGuire tallied another hat trick and Hailey Pike lit it up for five goals.
“Hailey and Ali had an unbelievable weekend,” says Lambert.
The Blades returned to the ice early Sunday morning handing the elite Colorado Select U16 AA team another 4-2 loss. McGuire scored twice and D’Aquila put the Blades up 3-0 with a goal in the second period, but Colorado Select came back to cut the Blades’ lead down to one in the third period.
McGuire completed her third hat trick of the weekend out of four games, scoring midway through the third period to close out the 4-2 win.
The Blades closed the weekend with an 8-0 drubbing of the Colorado Select U19 team. This time the entire team shared the scoring. Pike and McGuire combined for three goals while Jennifer Ehmsen scored twice and Marissa Danos, Crittendon and D’Aquila each added one goal.
The Blades with host Summit County this weekend in Gunnison with games on Saturday, January 12 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, January 13 at 12:15 p.m.
“They’ll be good games for sure,” says Lambert. “I am very happy with the way they’re playing but we still have a lot to work on. We want to peak at just the right time.”
