Southern Illinois Ice Hawks freeze out the competition

The Southern Illinois Ice Hawks will add a championship trophy to the trophy case in their new home, the McKendree Metro Rec Plex, opening soon in O’Fallon.

The 2016 Squirt A team won first place in the Capital Freeze Tournament held in Springfield, Ill. The win came with the tie-breaking, winning goal scored with only 1:40 left on the clock.

The team is coached by David Nappier, Nate Kohlenhoefer, Marc Jarlsberg and Tristan Melvin.

Team members include Brendan Leverett, Ethan Nappier, Frank Barncord V, Mason Wright, Jason Jarlsberg, Jack Vahle, Grant Hubert, Barron Arbeiter, and Barrett Nieweglowski.

Mason Wright of Shiloh and Jack Vahle of O'Fallon each received game pucks from the coaches for their performance in the tournament.

In other ice hockey action, the Southern Illinois Ice Hawks Pee Wee B team were finalists in the Capital Freeze Tournament held over Veterans Day weekend in Springfield, Ill. They battled Pekin in the championship game for a second place finish.

The team is coached by Rick Werner, Val Zagorski and David Bennett.

Team members include Nolan Lamonte, Chase Green, Austin Zagorski, Jacob Vahle, Dylan Kreke, Chance Lehman, Glennon Bennett, Andy Bennett, Shea Suedmeyer, Michael Gildehaus, Samuel Lucas, Matthew Bushee, Andrew Winkler, William Garcia-Boyd and Garrett Werner.

The team and coaches named goalie Matthew Bushee MVP for his performance in the net during the tournament.

Jacob Vahle and Andrew Winkler are both from O’Fallon.

This story was originally published November 15, 2016 at 9:59 AM with the headline "Southern Illinois Ice Hawks freeze out the competition."