Sixty minutes.
That was all that separated Rockyview Raiders from a historic win in the female division final at the Mac’s AAA Midget Hockey Tournament on Jan. 1 at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
After winning four out of five games on their way to the final, Raiders went up against Northern Capitals who were undefeated in their previous five games.
Raiders took the lead through Cochranite Nicolette Seper in the first period, but couldn’t hold on as Capitals came back in a big way.
Capitals equalized through Sage Desjardins early in the second period and, 43 seconds later, Helen Mosher made it 2-1 Capitals. Marissa Nichol and Desjardins (her second) added to more going into the third period before Capitals blueliner Cassey Norris added insult to injury with a fifth goal to make the final score 5-1.
“The tournament was a success overall,” said Raiders head coach Paul Pozzi. “We just dropped a tough one in the final, and didn’t finish off what we needed to do. We played a very good semifinal where we won quite handily. Then, we just couldn’t get it done at the final hurdle.
“We ran into a team that was maybe a bit better prepared than we were. From the beginning though, we played some very solid hockey. I’m proud of my players.”
As a coach who has taken part in five Mac’s tournaments (in both the male and female divisions with the Calgary Royals and Calgary Chaos before coming to the Raiders) what were Pozzi’s expectations going into this year’s event?
“We knew that we had a good shot,” he said. “The goal was to get in and win it, but we fell short. We knew we had a team that was good enough to get there, even though we’re a very young team with a lot of first-year players.
“This is one of the deepest teams that I’ve ever coached. The biggest thing is that this group has the best work ethic of any team I’ve coached. They work hard and have that rural mentality where hard work is an important factor. You can have all the talent in the world, but if you’re not prepared to work, you won’t get it done.”
Two of the players that Raiders look to, to make an impact, are Cochranites Seper and Kara Kondrat.
Both players played all of their team’s games, with Seper picking up three goals and two assists, and Kondrat (two goals, three assists) respectively. Seper’s play was rewarded with a spot on the tournament’s second All-Star team.
“Even though Kara is in her second year with the Raiders, she’s still a first-year player age-wise since she’s still in Grade 10,” Pozzi said. “But, she plays like a veteran. She’s a good-sized kid who skates well, and she keeps getting better.
“Nicolette is one of the top players in our league right now. She’s second in scoring, and she’s a great skater. Next year she’s going to be playing at university level with Mount Royal, so that says it all.”
