Squirts place second in tournament

ANCHORAGE -- The Matanuska Amateur Hockey Association Eagles took second place Sunday in the Squirt level of the 2001 Bulldog Invitational Hockey Tournament held at Dempsey-Anderson Arena in Anchorage.

"I'm really happy with how the kids played in the tournament," said coach Eric Troisi. "We have a lot of new kids this year, but they played well as a team and gave their best effort."

Eight teams from around the state participated in the tournament, with the eight teams broken into two divisions of four teams. The tournament used a round-robin format that called for each team to play the other teams in its division Friday and Saturday, awarding two points for a win and one point for a tie.

The Eagles swept its division by defeating the Fairbanks Northern Knights, Anchorage Junior Aces, and the Anchorage All-Stars to reach the semifinals Sunday morning. After tying 1-1 with the Blue Devils of Eagle River, the Eagles won the tiebreaker and advanced to the championship game to face the hosting Bulldogs of the Anchorage Boys and Girls Club.

Two goals by Liam House-Myers put the Eagles up early in the game, but the Bulldogs were able to pull even 2-2 with five minutes left in the game.

At the end of regulation, the score was tied 2-2. A five-minute overtime yielded no result, forcing a shootout to determine the championship. Zack Richards scored one goal in the shootout but the Bulldogs scored 2 to take the championship.

Richards scored seven goals in the tournament with one assist. House-Myers contributed four goals with six assists. Jared Hanson added four assists.

Goaltender Jake Dargis stopped 95 percent of the shots, making 137 saves on the 145 shots he faced.