Under-13 Thunder take second in home tournament

By Rob Vogt Local Press Writer
The Claresholm Under-13 Thunder hockey team advanced all the way to the championship final of their host tournament to earn silver, before falling to a bigger, stronger team from Calgary.
The Thunder hosted three teams from Calgary and one from Fort Macleod in a tournament they held at the Claresholm Arena on Friday, Jan. 21; Saturday, Jan. 22; and Sunday, Jan. 23.
Claresholm opened play on Friday night with an 8-0 win over the Blackfoot Chiefs of Calgary.
After a scoreless first period, the Thunder broke open the game with three goals in the second period and five more in the third for the win.
Bergen Flynn started the scoring, assisted by Johnny Fletcher; then Ethan Ferguson scored twice, one assisted by Flynn, the other assisted by Lily Ferguson and Liam Schuler.
Third period goals came from Easton Wright, assisted by Cody Tompkins; Lily Ferguson, assisted by Flynn and Schuler; Flynn, assisted by Fletcher; Flynn, assisted by Tompkins and Lily Ferguson; and Tompkins, assisted by Schuler and Flynn.
Goaltender Tyce D’Agnone earned the shut out in net.
The Thunder were back on the ice Saturday morning, where they defeated the Crowfoot Coyotes of Calgary by a score of 6-2.
Claresholm struck early with three goals in the first period, and one more in the second period to lead 4-0 before the Coyotes scored to close the gap to 4-1 after two periods.
Crowfoot narrowed the gap to 4-2, but Claresholm scored just 22 seconds later then added an insurance goal two minutes after that to win 6-2.
Scoring for the Thunder were Ty McLean, assisted by Lily Ferguson and Tompkins; Flynn, assisted by McLean and Tompkins; Flynn, assisted by Fletcher; Tompkins, assisted by Flynn and Fletcher; Flynn, assisted by Tompkins; and Tompkins, assisted by Flynn and Lily Ferguson.
D’Agnone was again strong in net for the victory.
Claresholm wrapped up round-robin play on Sunday morning, Jan. 23, where they lost to the Knights of Calgary by a score of 5-2.
Scoring for the Thunder were Flynn, with two goals. The first was set up by Wright and the second was assisted by Lily Ferguson and Fletcher.
D’Agnone made 41 saves in net for Claresholm.
The results left the Knights and Thunder first and second in the standings, meaning they would play for the tournament championship Sunday afternoon.
It was a tight checking affair that was scoreless after 20 minutes, and almost two full periods when the Knights finally scored with just over a minute remaining to lead 1-0 after two periods.
They added two more goals two minutes apart in the third period, and Claresholm had their chances to score, but the Calgary team prevailed by that 3-0 score to win the game and take the gold medal.
D’Agnone was again heroic in net making 41 saves for the Thunder.