Squirts Blast Through 2009 Texas Shootout 
Don’t tell the Squirt Gold team they’ve only been together for two practices. By all appearances, they went into the 6th Annual Texas Shootout looking like they’ve played together for months. Undefeated in a five game series, the team earned championship honors in the Squirt Gold Division of this competitive Labor Day tournament.
Fast Skates and Passes Tape-to-TapeWith fast skates and crisp passes, Thunder overwhelmed the Dallas Stars Select Euless (8-1), the McKinney Lions (8-1) and the Dallas Scots (16-1) in their first three games of the tourney. In the tournament opener, JoJo Sultan started the scoring streak for the 2009/2010 season, while Jake Kolodziejski followed with his first hat trick of the year.
Goalies CJ McKennitt and Jake Ange kept the opposing teams to 1 goal in each of the first three games. A mother of a McKinney player quoted her son who described the Thunder boys as “bees who were everywhere.”
Fourth Game Battle of the Undefeated
The fourth game of the series was a battle of undefeated; Thunder faced the DJHA Penguins for the chance to move on to the championship game. Thunder dominated play, keeping the action in the Penguin zone, but couldn’t get a puck into the net. After a scoreless 1st period, DJHA scored first and led 1-0 at the end of two periods. Liam Brown and Jake Kolodziejski scored to give Thunder their first lead in the game. A late 3rd period goal by the Penguins sent the game into a shootout. Conner Doherty scored the only goal of the shootout, while CJ McKennitt kept each shot he faced out of the net.
Thunder vs Houston Wild in Championship Game 
Facing an undefeated Thunder team, the Houston Wild started the championship game on the offensive. Defense prevailed as CJ McKennitt withstood an initial onslaught of pucks. The Wild eventually slipped one past CJ and went up by one. Ryan Anguiano scored to tie the game at 1-1 after two periods. A couple minutes into the final period, Houston took another one goal lead. Liam Brown, for the second time in the tourney, scored the equalizer and Ryan Anguiano scored the eventual game winner with just over a minute left in this nail-biter.
Congratulations, boys, for a hard fought championship!! Many thanks to the coaches – Cam McKennitt, Lisa True and Jim Doherty.
Tourney Leaders:
Jake Kolodziejski: Goal Leader (9); Point Leader (14); Most Goals in a Game (4)
Ryan Anguiano: Assists Leader (7); Most Points in a Game (7)
Interesting Team Stats:
Hat Tricks: Duncan Clayton, Brenden Williams, Jake Kolodziejski
9 of 14 players had a “Points per Game Average” (PPGA) of 1.00+. Nearly every player on the team had at least one point or assist
Spirit of the Game Awards:
Jake Kolodziejski
Conner Doherty
CJ McKennitt
Liam Brown
For more information about the Thunder Squirts and other game statistics from the Texas Shootout Tounament, check these Pointstreak links:
http://www.pointstreak.com/players/players-leagues.html?leagueid=402
http://www.pointstreak.com/players/players-division.html?divisionid=30573&seasonid=4585
DISCLAIMER: This article is just for fun and does not necessarily reflect the views of RCHTA