A 15-year-old DeWinton girl and her teammates only beat Team Quebec once this year. But they did it when it counted the most – in the finals of the U-16 ringette national championship.
Paige McCarthy, a Grade 10 student at Holy Trinity Academy, was a member of the Calgary Raze who beat Quebec 2-1 in the final on April 2 in Cambridge, ON.
“We played Quebec in a tournament at the start of the year and they beat us 13-12 in overtime,” McCarthy said. “Then in the first game of the nationals they beat us 4-2. So in the finals, we wanted to play them to prove we could beat them – we really brought our best game.”
Representing Team Alberta, the Calgary Raze never trailed in the final, but McCarthy admitted she was nervous as she watched from the bench as the clock ticked down to zero.
“I was off for the last minutes and the play was always in our end,” McCarthy said. “We finally got the ringette out of our end and when we got to the end of the game myself and my teammates jumped on the ice and celebrated.”
However, when the tournament started, it appeared the Raze would be watching the finals from the stands.
They dropped their first two games losing to Quebec 4-2 and the host Cambridge team 6-5 on the opening day of the tournament March 28.
“We lost both our games to start and at that point we didn’t really think we could make it to the final,” she said.
The Raze finally earned their first win by beating Manitoba 6-5 on March 29.
“That was really big for us, because it meant we had a little bit of hope,” she said. “We started improving as we went on. I think the two losses made us want to win more. Since we had already lost two, we had nothing to lose. We worked really hard.”
A little bit of hope and some talent can go a long way.
Calgary improved to 3-2 after they beat Nova Scotia 10-3 and then New Brunswick 3-0 on March 30.
McCarthy scored her first goal of the tournament in the win over New Brunswick.
Team Alberta then slipped by Team Saskatchewan 6-4 and Team Ontario 8-4 on March 31. When the Raze routed B.C. 8-1 on April 1, Calgary had battled back from its opening two losses, to earn a spot in the finals.
They capped the comeback with a 2-1 win in the final to clinch the gold.
McCarthy said she thought she had a goal in the final but it was called back. However, she wasn’t too disappointed as the team won the championship.
McCarthy, who has been playing ringette for nine years, finished the tournament with one goal and eight assists.
“I enjoy it’s because you get real close to your teammates,” she said. “You also have to make a lot of passes in ringette and there is a lot of stop and starting in ringette.”
Her long-term goal is to play for Team Canada. She will try out for the Belle AA U-19 team next year.
“The age group above me the players are really good,” she said. “If I don’t make it I will play A. I just want to play ringette. It’s so much fun.”
