West Elk Wolverines continue to dominate league opponents

“I feel like we’re in a great place heading into this weekend”

The outcome was expected, but maybe not by as much. The West Elk Wolverines outscored the Colorado Junior Eagles 17-0 over the course of two games this past weekend in Gunnison and remain at the top of the league standings with a record of 8-0-2.
The Junior Eagles is a young team and came into Gunnison last in the standings without a win. Coach Joe Otsuka reminded the Wolverines that while they could cruise through the two games and still come away with a couple of wins, it might be prudent to continue to push and continue to improve.
“I told them they can play mediocre, but it doesn’t bode well for the next week of practices,” says Otsuka. “Or, they can play tight, execute what we’ve been working on, move forward as a team and feel confident going into the games against Cherry Creek. They responded and I really liked that.”
 In addition, like any coach heading into a couple of easy games, Otsuka worried they might play down to their competition but his concerns were laid to rest as the Wolverines kept the throttle pegged from the opening face-off of the first game to final buzzer of the second game.
“The biggest thing I wanted to see was that we had our sights set on playing at our level and I think the team did that really well,” explains Otsuka.
The Wolverines opened the scoring four minutes into the first period on Friday night as Sam Reaman and Isaac Evans connected for the first goal and Brady Wilson scored off an assist from Josh Wallin 40 seconds later. Gage Meredith scored off an assist from Patrick Seifert late in the first period and Nicholas Koch and Seifert each scored in the second period for a 5-0 lead.
Rather than rest on the laurels of a 5-0 lead, the Wolverines continued to push the pace to rattle off three more goals in the third period as Ian Obanion, Meredith and Ashton Mabry all found the back of the net for the 8-0 win.
The Wolverines returned to the ice on Saturday, February 14 for their second game against the Junior Eagles and continued to execute their game plan.
Meredith opened things up for the Wolverines, scoring in the first two minutes of the game. Evans tallied the next two Wolverine goals, Reaman picked off a clearing pass to score a shorthanded goal and Ethan Shaw capped the five-goal first period, taking a pass from Danny Stoneberg to drive straight to net and score.
Mabry, Brady Wilson and Shaw added to the Wolverines offense in the second with a goal each and Seifert finished it off with a goal in the third period, taking a perfect pass from Wilson for the 9-0 Wolverines win.
“Our biggest attribute was our ability to possess the puck. We played a very offensive, possessive game and just didn’t let them breathe at all,” says Otsuka. “Our defense did a great job of handling pressure. They were calm, calculated and were able to move the puck to the weak side, away from pressure, allowing our offense to get set up. We’ve been working on that and it worked really well.”
The Wolverines are now gearing up for a two-game road trip to the Front Range where they will face Cherry Creek. Otsuka expects Cherry Creek to bring their A-game against the Wolverines but he feels his team is prepared.
“Right now we’re in a really good position to go up against Cherry Creek,” says Otsuka. “We’ve gone back and tweaked our dry land training and practices and at the end of the day increasing camaraderie, and it’s really starting to unfold.”
Otsuka also expects, as the regular season winds down, his team will be playing in the crosshairs each and every weekend.
“We’re playing with a huge target on us in the final weeks,” says Otsuka. “Teams will be throwing everything but the kitchen sink at us. They want to be the team that hands us our first loss.”