Lady Coyotes win first state title during AZYHL tourney
A total of nine teams captured Arizona Youth Hockey League (AZYHL) state championships over the March 9-11 weekend.
The rundown of all title games:
10U Red: Arizona Hockey Union 10U White – EJ (Benjamin) Green scored two goals in the 2-1 win over the Arizona Bobcats at AZ Ice Gilbert. Dominic Seligman made 20 saves in goal for the victory. For the Bobcats, Brandon Gorzynski scored and Maya Shtrom stopped 12 shots between the pipes.
10U White: Flagstaff Northstars 10U Major – Matthew Stoddard earned the shutout in goal, stopping all six shots in a 6-0 win over the DYHA Maroon team. Drew Smith recorded a hat trick for the Northstars, while Colin Grantham, Troy Palmer and Christian Welker all tallied goals at AZ Ice Gilbert.
10U Blue: CAHA Jr. Coyotes 9U – The Jr. Coyotes needed a shootout to defeat Mission AZ 10U Red by a 3-2 count at the Jay Lively Arena. Jonathan Radtke and Alex Masek scored in regulation for the Jr. Coyotes and Anton Ariaratnam and Max Murphy scored in the shootout. Max Brodeur earned the win in goal with 16 saves. For Mission, Kyle Rihela and Colin Keough scored and Timmy Teligades made 19 saves.
12U Elite: CAHA Jr. Coyotes 12U Elite – The Jr. Coyotes swept the Bobcats in two straight at Ice Den Scottsdale – 2-1 and 9-2. Luke Hogan and Bowen Burke each scored twice in the clincher, while Simon Schaer added three assists and Adam Stevenson made nine saves between the pipes.
12U Red: Arizona Hockey Union 12U Black – AHU downed the Bobcats 5-0 at Ice Den Chandler as Matthew Benzing, River Lewis and Kai Hohoff each had a goal and an assist and Nathan Graybill turned in a 23-save performance in goal.
12U White: Mission AZ 12U Red – At AZ Ice Arcadia, Mission downed AHU 3-1 as Josef Bauer and Kaden Paterno each posted a goal and an assist and Ethan Montgomery made 16 saves in net.
12U Blue: AZ Lady Coyotes 14U (pictured very top) – The Lady Coyotes captured their first-ever state title, winning 2-1 in a shootout over AHU at AZ Ice Peoria. Willow Troy scored in regulation and goalie Edith Townsend stopped 17 shots for the win between the pipes. Garrison Dancil scored for AHU and Ian Ottley registered 30 saves.
14U: DYHA Jr. Sun Devils 14U Gold – The Gold team knocked off the DYHA Maroon team 3-2 at AZ Ice Arcadia. Oliver Craft, Chris Vo and Zachary Papadatos all compiled a goal and an assist for Gold and Braeden Wernle stopped 24 shots in goal.
16U: AHSHA Premier – At Ice Den Scottsdale, AHSHA Premier took a 6-2 win over Mission 16U White. Six different players scored for AHSHA with Jonah Geiger, Tyler Pear and Adam Katheder notching a goal and an assist each. Nick Layman made 18 saves in net.
— Matt Mackinder
(March 20, 2018)