Youth hockey players take to the ice

COURTESY
SAXTONS RIVER, Vt. – The Pleasant Valley Hockey Association (PVA) season is under way, with 40 players ages eight and up hitting the ice.

The skaters play locally on the Mike Choukas Ice Arena at Vermont Academy and travel to other rinks in Vermont and New Hampshire during their season. The teams’ schedules can be found at their websitewww.pvahockey.org.

The opening weekend, Nov. 17, saw five games against Woodstock, Manchester, Harwood and the Chittenden-South Burlington hockey programs.

The Travel Mite eight-and-under (8U) team played two 20-minute games against Woodstock at home Saturday and two away games against Manchester Sunday. Scores for this level are not maintained. Rather, the focus is on developing skills, the proper sense of competition and good sportsmanship, and having fun.

The ten-and-under (10U) Squirts battled on the ice both days against Woodstock on Saturday and Harwood on Sunday.Although they were the first games of the season and there were several new players on the ice, the team held tight to their competitors until the very end, losing by only one point in both games.

The Mixed House 14-and-under team (14U) composed of 13- to 9-year-old players met the CSB team Sunday and beat them in a sudden-death overtime. CSB scored first right out of the gate with just a minute into the game and a second goal with just over two minutes left in the first period. PVA came back in the second to tie it up, with goals scored at the seven- and four-minute markers. The third period ended with neither team scoring, and both teams took multiple shots against each goalie, who both made amazing saves throughout the game, ending the third with a 2-2 tie.

Both teams opted for a sudden-death tie breaker, defining the winner of the game as the first to score in the five-minute period. With only 14 seconds into overtime, PVA broke away and scored on the CSB defense, winning their season opener 3-2.