Skip to content

Confident Raiders shine under Notre Dame spotlight

Hockey: Okotoks finalists at Mandi Schwartz Memorial Tournament
Raiders Girls Hockey 8784121
Rocky Mountain Raiders forward Keanna McKibbin had two goals in the team's 7-0 win over Westman at the Mandi Schwartz Memorial Tournament. (BRENT CALVER/Western Wheel)

A change in tactics was as good as a rest out of province for the Rocky Mountain Raiders.

The Rocky Mountain Raiders made the most of their opportunities under the bright lights of one of the elite female Midget AAA tournaments in the country earning a spot in the second-place final at Notre Dame’s Mandi Schwartz Memorial Tournament on Dec. 8.

“This weekend we decided as a coaching staff to not really emphasize on wanting to win as a team,” said Raiders head coach Dustin Borbandy. “But we wanted to get exposure for kids – because at the end of the day that’s what this tournament is about – having exposure and showcasing ourselves as a team and as individuals so scouts and coaches can see the kids perform at high level competition.”

Given those parameters, the Raiders opted to share playing time equally and ice every player in every situation, whether they’re regulars on the powerplay or penalty-kill or not.

“With that we had really, really great success in seeing kids step out of their comfort zones and do well in areas where they normally felt a lot more pressure,” the coach added. “They really embraced the opportunity and did a great job with it.”

After dropping the tournament curtain raiser to Swift Current by a 1-0 score, the Raiders put forth consecutive shutouts, with netminder Hali Lawrence, in goal for both contests, to finish second out of their group.

First, Rocky Mountain rode a Sydney Benko hat-trick to a 3-0 win over the Northern Alberta Xtreme.

The Raiders then took care of the Westman Wildcats by a 7-0 count. Hailey Wiltshire and Keana McKibbin contributed two goals with Claire Hobbs, Isobel Pettem-Shand and Kallie Clouston also finding the back of the net.

In the semifinal, the Raiders slipped past the Prince Albert Bears by a 3-2 count.

Pettem-Shand, Abbey Borbandy and Raquel Ingram provided the offence.

In the second-place final, the host Notre Dame Hounds held off Rocky Mountain in the 3-1 contest. Caylee Crowson got the Raiders’ lone tally in the match.

“It was interesting to see how all of our players handled (the pressure),” Borbandy said. “For our third years, even for players that are already committed they were pretty stressed themselves because they wanted to perform and showcase themselves.

“Second years are pushing hard to showcase themselves, but when we talk about showcasing we don’t want to get into an individual type of style, it still has to be a team oriented weekend and I thought our kids did well. They played hard as a team.

“And for our first years I know that first game was really stressful, but after that again having team discussions and helping them work through that they were able to settle in and they contributed in all aspects of that weekend.”

The Raiders entered the Saskatchewan-based competition in red-hot form, having won four straight and four of their last five games in the Alberta Female Hockey League.

“Going back into our regular season where we were having some good success and then continuing that into this (tournament) and to have the opportunity to be in all situations, nothing but confidence was grown by all the players,” the coach said. “Lots of laughs, smiles and overall enjoyment by our team and the support was just tremendous.

“It was a win, win, win for our club.”

That’s been a recurring theme for the squad of late.

The run in form can be attributed to the players gradually growing into their roles, the coach said.

“A lot of the times a lot of players start to find their groove near the end of November to December,” Borbandy said. “They’ve got a lot of stress coming into this league, the first year, second year, third year with school, new team, fitting in, just adapting to it all, I think it took a little bit of time.

“Those kids really have come together as a team and started to believe more and more and it’s allowed us to play free, loose and not afraid to make mistakes.

“I think that’s been a big bonus for us is having those kids go out and play without worry.”

News and Notes  … Raiders Alternate captain Alesha Santos found her next hockey home, committing to the Red Deer College Queens in the ACAC for next season. The stalwart 17-year-old blueliner is in her second season with the Raiders.

The Raiders are home to Red Deer on Dec. 14 at 2:30 p.m. at the Scott Seaman Sports Rink and close the weekend on Dec. 15 against the rival Calgary Fire, a 12:30 p.m. start at Father David Bauer Arena. Go to midgetaaa.afhl.ca for more information.
 


Remy Greer

About the Author: Remy Greer

Remy Greer is the assistant editor and sports reporter for westernwheel.ca and the Western Wheel newspaper. For story tips contact [email protected]
Read more



Comments

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks