The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Hat tricks and shutouts
Crested Butte’s U12 Panther girls’ ice hockey team recorded their best finish ever in tournament play with an impressive runner-up title in the 15th Annual Aspen Fall Face Off this past weekend.
The three-day tournament features 80 teams from California to Colorado. The Panther squad competed in the U12 division and faced the second seeded Colorado Select girl’s team in the first game.
Crested Butte has never won against Select until Friday, November 7. Kaitlyn Seifert recorded two goals and Monica Olesen was brilliant in goal for a 3-1 victory. Game two on Saturday was a 6 a.m. game start, not to the girls’ liking. The Panthers have had many close games against the Steamboat Skiers in the past, but not this time.
The Panther girls displayed an impressive offensive game with 41 shots on the Skier goalie. Hailey Pike had a hat trick and Kendl Santelli recorded her first career hat trick. Not to mention an equally impressive defensive showing with Anika Kooiman, Bradley Santelli, Marissa Osmundson and Maddie Lambert helping Olesen record her first career shutout. Final score: Crested Butte 11, Steamboat 0.
Crested Butte’s next opponent was two-time defending state champ the Aspen Leafs. The Panther squad played hard but lost 4-1. That set up a rematch for the championship on Sunday. The Leafs came out firing in the first 10 minutes of the contest, pinning the Panthers down with four goals. Crested Butte played hard the rest of game, finally losing the championship game 6-1. Other goal scorers for the weekend were Ali McGuire, Mallory Mikeska and Lindsey Johnson.
The Panthers have RMHS in Gunnison November 14-15, then practice Sunday, November 23 before league play starts December 6-7 against Summit, all in Gunnison.
Follow Panther hockey this winter at www.crestedbuttepanthers.com
