The Red Deer Rush has earned the right to call itself the best U19A ringette team in Western Canada.
Representing Alberta, the Rush won gold at the Western Canadian Championship by defeating Team Saskatchewan 3-1 in the championship game on Saturday, March 29 in Langley, B.C.
"This is the first time a Red Deer team has won gold at Westerns," said Braden Kilpatrick, U19A Rush head coach.
"It was an awesome experience. The girls worked so hard and I'm really proud of them."
Red Deer's Ally George opened the scoring 3:16 into the opening period. Saskatchewan tied the game about halfway into the second period with a short-handed goal. But Grace Debogorski answered back to put the Rush ahead once again with 4:42 remaining in the middle frame. Hadley Guenther added a power-play goal with 1:56 left in the second to put Team Alberta up 3-1, which was the final score after a goalless third period.
The Rush went undefeated throughout the tournament, winning all four of its round-robin games heading into the gold-medal game. Red Deer first defeated Fraser Valley 6-1 and Team Manitoba 6-3 on Thursday, March 27. The Rush then went on to defeat Team British Columbia 6-5 and Team Saskatchewan 5-4 on Friday, March 28.
"We had a couple of games that were very close. There was one game where we were down by a couple goals, and we worked hard to come back and win," Kilpatrick said.
"The girls had a positive attitude and worked hard every game. They gave it everything they had. They were great teammates and were so supportive of each other. It was a great tournament all around."
Guenther led the way offensively for Red Deer, tallying six goals and four assists in five games. Rounding out Red Deer's top five scorers were Ally George (seven goals and one assist), Blair Campbell (four goals and four assists), Koda Edwards (one goal and six assists), and Kylie Maris (three goals and three assists). Goaltender Kacey Talsma started all five games for Red Deer, recording a .870 save percentage and a tournament-best 4.88 goals-against average in 160 minutes of action.
Red Deer qualified for the Western Canadian Championship by winning gold at the U19A Provincial Championships in Red Deer earlier this month. The victory at the Western Canadian Championship marks the end of the 2024-25 season for the Red Deer Rush.
"The season as a whole was very special," said Kilpatrick.
"We were league champions in the Black Gold League. We were provincial champions and then we ended up winning Westerns... We have a group of four or five girls who have played in their last year with Red Deer Ringette because they've aged out. For them to have this experience, it's great for them."
