The Glenwood Springs Ice Queens women’s hockey team finished second after five grueling games in last weekend’s season-ending Mountain Division championship tournament at the Eagle Pool and Ice Rink.

The Women’s Association of Colorado Hockey sanctioned the 2024-25 tournament, which featured eight teams from mountain towns including Breckenridge, Vail, Eagle, Steamboat Springs, Aspen and Glenwood Springs.

Entering as the defending champions, the Ice Queens had a target on their backs from the first puck drop. They opened strong on Friday night with a 4-0 win over Breckenridge’s Fatty’s Fury.

After a scoreless first period, Paige Pulliam broke the seal at 6:38 in the second. Pulliam, 20, is an alumna of the Grizzly Youth Hockey Association. Additional goals came from Carbondale’s Sophia Jacober, newcomer Julia Koch and another from Pulliam. Glenwood outshot Breckenridge 28-18.

Saturday brought two more pool play games. In the morning, the Ice Queens tied the Violent Femmes 2-2. Jacober scored off an assist from Galen Hoover, while Kristen Sutera Dumoulin added another, assisted by Liz Tucker. A true two-way player, Tucker also served two minutes for interference. Glenwood dominated shots on goal, 43-7.

Later that day, the Ice Queens routed the Vail Twin Peaks 7-2. Vail struck first at 12:53 in the opening period, but Hoover responded just 30 seconds later. Hoover scored again early in the second, assisted by Amanda Wynn, and Glenwood poured in five more goals in the 15-minute period.

Wynn, Dumoulin, Chelsea Lawrenz, Kristen Davis and Lawrenz again found the back of the net. Assists came from Dana Dwyer, Mary Boyd and Koch. The third period was scoreless, with Glenwood’s defense holding strong. Carbondale’s Charmian Featherstone served a two-minute penalty for holding late in the third. Shots favored Glenwood 17-13.

Sunday morning’s semifinal saw Glenwood face Highway 82 rival Aspen MPs in front of a smaller crowd. The Ice Queens dominated, winning 8-3.

Glenwood opened with goals from the mother-daughter duo of Molly and Sophia Jacober. Aspen answered with two goals to tie it at the end of the first. They added one more midway through the second, but that would be their last of the tournament.

The Queens responded with six unanswered goals. Pulliam tied it, then scored the game-winner just 57 seconds later. Koch, Susie Demers, Pulliam again and Koch once more rounded out the scoring. Dumoulin served a two-minute minor for hooking in the third. Glenwood outshot Aspen 35-12.

The championship game began at noon against the Steamboat Springs Panic. After a hard-fought weekend, the Ice Queens ran out of steam against the younger and highly skilled Steamboat squad, falling 4-0 despite outshooting them 29-21.

Over five games in 48 hours, Glenwood racked up impressive stats. Goalie Kristen Fawcett of Edwards stopped 60 of 71 shots faced and stood tall in net all weekend. Glenwood outshot every opponent and landed 21 goals on 152 attempts.

Pulliam led the team with 10 points overall, followed by Sophia Jacober with six. Koch and Hoover each contributed five points.

After the game, defenseman Featherstone gave credit to the new champions.

“They’re a good team and deserved to win,” Featherstone said. “It was challenging to play against some of their younger players.”