KAPA‘A — The Bruins’ Edward Punua had a chance to knot the game in the final minutes of play yesterday. But Punua got tied up by the Sharks’ McKenna Lewis at the goalmouth and bodies crashed in a tangled heap,
KAPA‘A — The Bruins’ Edward Punua had a chance to knot the game in the final minutes of play yesterday.
But Punua got tied up by the Sharks’ McKenna Lewis at the goalmouth and bodies crashed in a tangled heap, the puck getting moved out of danger.
On the other end, the Sharks tried to increase its 7-6 lead, but the Bruins’ defensive efforts resulted in another heap of bodies to the right of the goal.
“This is Malia Alonzo’s first game,” said Penni Taketa, scorekeeper for the Kaua‘i Inline Hockey League. “She’s the rookie for this year.”
Alonzo played for the Sharks in the Squirt division and throughout the greater part of the second half, Sharks kept feeding Alonzo in hopes of getting the newcomer her first goal as the Kaua‘i Inline Hockey League entered its second week of play.
The Sharks sat on a 5-3 halftime lead built on three goals and an assist from Eli Leech-Kritchman and a pair of nets from Tyler Lewis.
“The coaches are working on getting the players to improve their skills,” Taketa said.
“It’s not about running up the score. And, they’re also trying to get Malia to get her first score.”
With the puck sliding to the various points of the newly equipped inline skating facility in Kapa‘a, Leech-Kritchman captained the Sharks to stay ahead of any Bruin threat.
That came in the second half when Shanel Tremblay netted two of her game-total three goals, the second one at the 8:02 mark drawing the Bruins to within a point of the Sharks.
Leech-Kritchman went to work and netted his fifth goal at the 6:52 mark, the puck ricochetting off the shin guard of Bruin goalkeeper Josh Lakotas and settling in the folds for the 7-5 lead.
But the Bruins weren’t through as they launched a full-court attack only to have the Sharks’ goalkeeper, Makani Crowder, come up with a crowd-pleasing save as his deflection of the Bruins’ shot-on-goal rocketed upwards and over the net.
Punua followed that act by pocketing the Bruins’ final goal at the 4:50 mark.
Tremblay finished the day with three goals to lead the Bruins’ effort. She was followed by Punua’s two goals and a goal from Shannon Sitzler at the 17:32 mark that opened the scorebooks.
Crowder finished the day 21-for-27 in saves while Lakotas ended with 26 saves on 33 attempts.
The public is invited to view the action from the spectator-friendly rink on Friday when the Bantam Devils take on Todd Mayer’s squad starting at 6:30 p.m. That contest will be followed by the Midget B team taking on Midget A starting at 7:30 p.m.
There is no admission fee to view the hot action, although spectators recommend bringing a jacket because the Kapa‘a rink can get pretty cold from the winds.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
