- By Dan Veaner
- Around Town
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The RINK's Russ Johnson agrees. "It's the largest tournament that we host annually," he says. "The other nice thing is that it's made up of teams from outside of New york State and outside the area. So not only do we enjoy hosting an event of that size and magnitude, but it's nice that the community of Tompkins County as a whole benefits from those types of events. A lot of teams come in, stay in hotels, eat in restaurants, doing retail shopping, buying gifts."
But the main event is the hockey, the teams, and the competition. "It's interesting, they all have different perspectives what they enjoy about it, what they get out of it," says Lansing dad and coach Tony Eisenhut. "From these kids and the kids I have been coaching, it's been, some of them, 7 years now. Watching them grow and mature from very young kids to young ladies has been interesting and how hockey plays a part in it."
TGHA celebrates its 34th year of girl's hockey in Ithaca. It began when two Ithaca High School sophomore girls asked Cornell Men's Hockey coach Dick Bertrand to conduct a hockey camp for girls. The program was a success, with 86 girls registering. Today the league is registered with the USA Hockey Organization and is one of the oldest original girls' hockey leagues in the United States.
| Four Western NY Teams Win in Championship Games Sunday by Mary Grainger, TGHA Communications Tompkins Girls Hockey Association Hosts Ithaca Shooting Stars Invitational During the Dec.1-3 weekend, TGHA hosted over 300 girls playing on 24 ice hockey teams participating in the annual Ithaca Shooting Stars Invitational tournament. There were 40 games played at The RINK and Cass Park at four age levels: 12U, 14U, 16U and 19U. Along with the girls, Ithaca was visited by over 50 of their team coaches and managers, and hundreds of parents, grandparents, siblings and friends. Each team played two games in a three team division before crossing over to play a third game. The winners of the crossover games played in Sunday's championship round in Lansing.  At the 12U level, the Amherst Knights defeated the Webster Cyclones, 3-2 in the final game. The 14U Amherst Knights team was also its age level tournament champion beating the West Seneca Wings, 3-1. At the 16U level, the Ithaca Shooting Stars were bested by the Wheatfield Blades, 4-0 in the final. The Tri-County Eagles of Brockport won the 19U championship with a 5-1 win over the Lady Patriots of Philadelphia, PA. Ithaca's 13U Shooting Stars played at the 12U level and were shut out by the Webster Cyclones and the West Seneca Wings. They also lost a closer battle with the Adirondack Northstars, 3-0. Goalies Alex Stagliano and Sophia Hunt made many saves in each contest. The 14U Shooting Stars were also shut out in their first two games by the West Seneca Wings and the Adirondack Northstars. Their third game was with the Saugerties Fillies who they beat 3-1. Carrie Wilder, Nitsan Goldstein and Lucy Marshall scored with assists being made by Marshall, Charlotte Stevens and Lauren Herrick. Goalie Angela Everhart stopped over 75 shots in the three games.  The 16U girls defeated the Perinton Blades, 2-0 and the Amherst Knights, 3-1, and tied the Wheatfield Blades, 2-2 in preliminary action before falling to the Blades 4-0 in the championship game. Against Perinton, Lauren Cole and Emma Marshall each scored one goal and notched an assist on each other's goal. Janesa Cornish and Whitney Colbert also assisted. Against Wheatfield the first time, Ithaca's Annabelle Jones and Sarah Eisenhut each allowed one goal and made about 10 saves each in the 2-2 tie. Cornish scored assisted by Marshall, and Katie Long scored assisted by Colbert. In the Amherst game, Colbert scored the first goal unassisted. Cornish and Cole each scored assisted by Marshall. Ithaca's 19Us lost to the eventual champion Tri-County Eagles, 6-0, the Toronto-based Scarborough Sharks, 2-0, and the Buffalo Regals 3-0. |
It includes four age group divisions with six teams in each division. The Shooting Stars have a team in each age group, and played against teams from all over the state and within the region, from Canada to Connecticut. There are four travel teams with about 16 players each. The Shooting Stars also has an initiation league for girls starting at age 5 that attracts an average of 60 girls, as well as a house league of about 20 girls.
Lansing coach and players, Tony, Emily and Sarah Eisenhut
Parents take an active roll, with many taking time off from work to help with the tournament. Eisenhut was one of these, with two daughters playing on Shooting Stars teams. He volunteered as a scorekeeper and at the information desk, as well as coaching the Ithaca 16U team. "I have been doing it for a long time," Eisenhut says. "I think hockey for the girls is an incredibly powerful sport. It teaches them self-confidence, it teaches them to be different in that they can succeed when they are focused and it's a lot more than hockey. Hockey is a great sport I think and part of my life since I was 5 years old."
Johnson is pleased to host the tournament, and says that it doesn't put a strain on his staff. "It's a little bit of additional staffing for the facility, some ice preparation to get ready for the event," he explains. "But it's almost the normal course of business for us. We have so many events every week, that it truly is a tournament with the number of hours that we operate and the number of games we have. The tournament is a little more atmosphere, a little more excitement in the building."
"To have a facility like this in Lansing, a community our size, whether it's The RINK, The FIELD, the workout facility, it's pretty awesome," says Eisenhut. "When we go traveling say to Toronto, you see facilities like this in large metropolitan areas."
TGHA put together raffle prizes with the proceeds going toward helping the teams travel to up to five other tournaments. A photographer offered pictures from the games, and league shirts were for sale in the lobby. But the main event was on the ice, and the girls were caught up in the camaraderie and teamwork. And the fun. "The girls have a great time, they love it," says Long.
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