What’s better than a championship match amongst friends?
Six members of the Rocky Mountain Raiders put their club loyalties aside for just over 60 minutes with Zone 4’s Kaci McInenly, Sienna McClinchey and Kylie Soloveoff earning the girls hockey gold medal at the 2020 Alberta Winter Games over their longtime teammates on Zone 3 in Reilly Crowson, Jordyn Rivett and Hannah Deck.
“It was awesome — first that we won and your team and your zone is the best in the province,” said McInenly, from Heritage Pointe. “We also got to connect with other players and people we don’t get to play with and you always play against.”
Crossfield’s Claire Carruthers notched the game winner just 1:41 into the overtime period with both McClinchey and Soloveoff on the ice as Zone 4 reigned supreme by a 2-1 count.
“I just got on the ice and it was a shot from the blueline that went in, she scored and we won the game,” said Soloveoff, from Okotoks. “It means a lot, this was my first time playing in something so big and it was pretty cool.
“We just kind of all just clicked together. We all know each other because we played against each other for so long.
“We just used communication and knew what to do always.”
For the players, lining up against their teammates in such high level competition took some getting used to.
Then the puck dropped.
“I found I got more competitive after the game actually started,” said McClinchey, from Millarville. “I was actually more competitive against them than some of the other teams.
“You know they’re not going to take it the wrong way.”
It also made for an interesting chess match between friends turned temporary rivals.
“I was playing against one of my linemates (Crowson) who I’m always playing with,” McInenly said. “I know how she works and she knows how you play the game. When she gets the puck you know she’s going to go down that side of the ice and use those moves.
“They tried to split it up because there were three Raiders kids. Us two forwards to play on a line with other Calgary and Olds kids. There’s no point in going to the tournament to just play with your own team.
“I liked it because we’re always used to playing against them so it was fun being with them, you think they’re mean kids on ice, but then you actually get to know them.”
The Zone 4 squad had a 1-2 record in round-robin and skated to a 3-0 win over Zone 5 in the semifinal while Zone 3 punched its ticket to the gold medal game by knocking off Zone 7 by a 7-0 count in the other semifinal.
“Our team was very energetic and we all bonded really quickly,” McClinchey said. “There were no little groups, sometimes when you get in those little groups the team is not very strong.”
Five Raiders — Hannah Saunders, Jordynne Hojnocki, Madison Berven, Anika Peters and Tori Evans — skated for the Zone 2 squad which won the consolation final, bringing the total of Rocky Mountain skaters in the Games to 11.
It’s a high level event that could have a positive impact on league play in the Alberta Female Hockey League’s Bantam Elite division.
The Raiders are enjoying a strong 2019-20 campaign with a 18-7-1 record with the post-season set to begin.
“The game was a lot faster, I found, in Airdrie and I think that’s going to carry over into these games,” McClinchey added. “Because there’s a lot of girls on our team who played in it and we all know what the pace is now.”
