Flathead Lady Fusion wins tourney in Idaho

The Flathead Lady Fusion 19U team recently won the 2023 Sun Valley 19U Tournament by defeating the Idaho Falls Lady Eagles 2-1 in an overtime shootout.

The tournament was held Feb. 3-5 at the Campion Ice House in Hailey, Idaho home of the Sun Valley Lady Suns. Idaho Falls Lady Eagles and Sun Valley Lady Suns represented Idaho, and the Bozeman Lady Ice Dogs, Missoula Lady Bruins and Flathead Lady Fusion represented Montana. The Utah Lady Griz rounded out the six-team event.

The competition was tight. Flathead, Idaho Falls and Sun Valley were tied in pool play points. However, Flathead secured the first seed by only allowing two goals and Idaho Falls and Sun Valley allowed three goals during pool play. Idaho Falls secured the spot in the championship against Flathead by breaking the tie with Sun Valley based on penalty minutes.

The Lady Fusion would strike first against the Lady Eagles with a fastbreak goal by forward Emma Cummings. Her hard-shot puck found its way into the top right corner of the net as Cummings cut hard left in front of the crease. The Lady Fusion took the 1-0 lead at 10:18 in the first period. The battle was defensive with the Lady Eagles goalie saving three-of-four shots, while Lady Fusion goalie, Summer Newman saved three shots on goal. The defensive battle continued through the second period with no goals. At 8:01 in the third period, the Lady Eagles tied it up, 1-1. At the end of the third, the game remained tied with Newman saving 10 of 11 shots in the period, a total of 21 saves.

According to tourney rules, a four-on-four, sudden-death tie breaker with a five-minute period is first. Once again, the defense prevailed on each end of the ice leading to the next tie breaker of a three-player shootout. The Lady Eagles had the first attempt, but the Newman blocked the attempt. Then it was Flathead's turn against Idaho Falls goalie. Forward Natalie Herne put the Lady Fusion in the lead after burying the puck in the right side of the net. On Idaho Falls' second attempt, Newman again denied the puck from entering the goal with a blocker save. Flathead's second shooter was defenseman Maya Lacey. Lacey tried to follow Herne's shot, but the puck hit the post and went wide. Idaho Falls had one more chance to tie. However, the Lady Eagles shooter didn't get a shot off. As the Lady Eagle came across the crease from left to right, Newman used her stick and poke check the puck away, ending Idaho Falls' hopes of a tie and securing the win for Flathead.

The team is coached by head coach Alexis Kinder, and assistants Brooke Bogart and Aly Wells.