For the first time in franchise history the Rocky Mountain Raiders are champions.
The Raiders made club history after edging out the rival Calgary Fire 2-1 in the gold medal game of the Hockey Alberta Midget AAA Female Championship on Easter Sunday in Grande Prairie.
“It was such an experience, the Raiders have never experienced that before,” said second-year Raider Ava Thiessen, from DeWinton. “That’s a really big deal for us, it’s a big win.”
Nanton’s Hanna Matchett scored both Raiders goals in the victory including the third-period winner to break the 1-1 deadlock.
“We kept our game simple,” said third-year Raiders blueliner Cassidy Trotter, from Okotoks. “When we got in trouble we just got it out of our zone and changed. Even though we were short on players we always kept working hard and created energy for each other.
“We’ve always had a rivalry with Calgary so beating them in the finals makes it even better that it was against them.”
Rocky Mountain, the top-seed entering the competition, had lost to Calgary just one day earlier in round-robin play. It was the only blemish on an otherwise perfect four days on the ice.
The Raiders opened tournament play with wins over Sherwood Park, the PAC Saints and host Peace Country Storm. Following its loss to Calgary, Rocky Mountain got by the Saints 4-0 in the semifinal to get another shot at dousing the Fire.
“The second game we really stayed out of the box,” said Thiessen, a Grade 11 student at Foothills Composite. “That’s what hurt us in that first game. We were on penalty-kill the majority of the time.
“(In the final) we initiated, got them to take penalties and capitalized on our opportunities.”
The championship ends a string of near misses for the Raiders. Rocky Mountain finished second in the province two seasons ago and were more recently the Mac’s Midget Tournament runners-up in January.
“Last year was our development year and all the returning girls were super excited,” added Trotter, a Grade 12 student at Holy Trinity Academy. “Everyone is just so happy right now. We’re all so proud of each other.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better team.”
The Raiders, a regional team and part of the Okotoks Oilers Athletic Association, featured a heavy Foothills contingent in Thiessen as well as Okotokians Cassidy and Breanne Trotter, Lacey DiMaulo and alternate captain Kennedy Brown.
Rocky Mountain moves on to the Pacific Regionals where it will face off against the Northern Capitals out of Prince George with a spot in the Esso Cup national championship on the line. The Esso Cup runs April 17-23 in Weyburn, Sask.
“We just have to regroup, and reset our mentality,” Trotter said.
The Pacific Regionals, held April 1-3 in Prince George, are a rematch of the Mac’s Midget championship which saw the Capitals reign supreme by a 5-1 score on New Year’s Day.
For more information on Pacifics go to ammfhl-hockey.ca
