Raiders peak at right time again
Call them the Rocky Mountain Express.
The line of Kara Kondrat, Chloe Puddifant and Mary McDonald combined for nine points to lead the Rocky Mountain Raiders to a 6-2 win over the Prince Albert Northern Bears on Monday in the female division final of the Mac’s AAA Midget Hockey Tournament.
“Rocky Mountain Express. I like it. That’s a great name,” said Raiders head coach Paul Pozzi.
“Chloe Puddifant has such great hockey sense, Kara’s more of a power forward, and Mary’s a bit more finesse, so you’ve got three girls with different traits that all complement each other.”
Kondrat led the way for the Raiders with two goals, including the game-winner, and an assist in front of an appreciative crowd at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
For her efforts, Kondrat was chosen as the playoff most valuable player in addition to being named to the second all-star team in the female division.
“It means a lot,” said Kondrat, who worked her way back into the Raiders lineup in time for the Mac’s tournament after suffering a high-ankle sprain at the outset of the season. “Hard work pays off. I was in a big slump for a while, but this tournament really turned things around for me.”
Puddifant scored once and set up two others, while McDonald had three helpers for the Raiders, who hoisted their second Mac’s Cup in as many years.
“Second time here, so we obviously wanted to defend it,” said McDonald, who was named tournament MVP and most sportsmanlike player in addition to being named to the first all-star team and winning the top plus-minus award. “The first year was really exciting. We just really wanted to get that repeat. This year, it meant a lot more because a lot of us are thirdyear (graduating players), so we really dug deep and tried to win.”
They became the first team to defend their Mac’s title in the female division since the Swift Current Wildcats accomplished the feat back in 2007-08.
“Like everybody says, it’s always hard to repeat — and it truly is,” Pozzi said. “I guess we had a bit of advantage because we’ve been here before. We had a plan going in right from the get-go, and they executed it.”
Despite the setback, Northern Bears head coach Jeff Willoughby praised his players for their running-up showing.
“Making it to the finals is still a good accomplishment,” Willoughby said. “I thought they played right to the buzzer, and that’s what we wanted them to do. It just wasn’t our day for putting pucks in the other team’s net, and it was for them.”
Although Camryn Amundson scored to give the Prince Albert squad an early 1-0 lead 79 seconds into the game, the Raiders outshot the Northern Bears 11-3 in the opening period and were rewarded with goals by Isabella Pozzi and Kondrat.
Puddifant took a pass from McDonald and backhanded a shot through traffic past Prince Albert goalie Ryan Fontaine at 13:21 of the second period before Josie McLeod hammered home a rebound 36 seconds later to give the Raiders a 5-2 lead.
Kondrat scored her second goal of the final with 36 seconds left in the second before Kassidy Kicia responded for the Northern Bears 2:22 into the final frame.
Nicole Fry added an insurance marker at 13:26 of the final frame for the Raiders, while goalie Gabriella Durante finished with 19 saves to pick up the win.