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U18 AAA Red Deer Sutter Fund Chiefs win provincial championship

They won in a shootout over Calgary
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The U18 AAA Red Deer Sutter Fund Chiefs became provincial champions over the weekend defeating Calgary in a shootout 4-3. (Photo submitted by Brett Wold)

The Red Deer Sutter Fund Chiefs are U18 AAA Alberta Female Hockey League (AFHL) provincial champions.

After a long season, the Chiefs won the gold medal game over the Calgary Fire 4-3 in a shootout.

Forward Rylee McLeod scored the lone goal of the shootout meanwhile goaltender Taya Christie stopped all three shooters to claim the goal medal in Edmonton.

Head coach Brett Wold said the game was exciting to be a part of.

“Props to Calgary, they came out hard and they’re a good team,” he said.

“But to do it in that fashion our fans were very loud and the girls were having a great game.”

Wold explained McLeod was an easy choice to be one of the shooters after she saw a lot of success in the shootout this season. The goal came up clutch when they needed it most.

Earlier in the game, the Chiefs went down 2-0 in the second period but after goals by Alyssa Shaw and McLeod, Red Deer tied it up in the third period. Calgary retook the lead in the final frame before Nadia Lavoie tied the game once again with four minutes left.

Since Wold began coaching the Chiefs they wanted to create a culture that people wanted to come to. Turning them into a championship-winning team will certainly help that.

“To get that championship it’s a pretty surreal feeling,” Wold said. “The one thing is just wishing that the last six years of girls could have had this feeling as well and been through this.

“But they were a huge part of creating our culture and leaving that legacy behind so the girls this year could win it.”

The Chiefs entered the playoffs as the number three seed in the AFHL and after defeating Lloydminster in a best-of-three series in the postseason, they booked their ticket to provincials.

In the first game at the provincial championship, the Chiefs won a tight matchup against the St. Albert Bauer Slash 1-0. However, in their second game, they suffered a 5-1 setback to the Calgary Fire but bounced back with a 3-1 victory over the Edmonton Jr. Oilers.

“Our goal going in was to win two of the three round-robin games. We thought that would give us a chance to get to the gold medal game,” he said.

After they beat Edmonton, Red Deer needed Calgary to beat St. Albert in order for the Chiefs to make the gold medal game. If St. Albert won Red Deer was only going to be able to play for bronze.

“We were all actually watching the game together in one of the girls living rooms and we were cheering for Calgary to win the game. When they won our girls went crazy and we knew we were in the gold medal,” Wold said.

Red Deer knew at that moment they were going to get a rematch against the Fire who beat the Chiefs convincingly earlier in the tournament.

“We knew we had a chance at Calgary we had their number all year. We beat them four of six times in the regular season so we weren’t too phased by it. We knew if we came out and played Chiefs hockey we could win that gold medal,” he added.

Wold said this season the team broke numerous team records including wins in the regular season, in which Red Deer managed 21 victories. Overall, he explained it was a very successful season.

“We still lost some games which was good. I thought our team used that as lessons and we learned to deal with some adversity through that as well,” he said.

“The girls were awesome and that room was so tight. It is probably the closest team I’ve ever seen in my life. Credit to the girls they came together like a family and they leaned on each other.”

The U15 AA AFHL provincial championship in Red Deer also reached its conclusion on Sunday with the Red Deer Sutter Fund Chiefs defeating the Rocky Mountain Raiders in the bronze medal game. In the goal medal game, the Calgary Fire Red beat the Edmonton Pandas 3-2.

For Red Deer Taylor Sorenson, Irelyn Hutchison, Bailey Rogers, Summer Greiner, and Bria Hull all scored in the effort to win bronze. Goaltender Brylee Hull made 34 saves in the victory.

Meanwhile, the U18 AA Red Deer Sutter Fund Chiefs will face off this week in the provincial championships located in Leduc.

They’ll first take on the Calgary Fire Red on Thursday at 11:15 a.m. before they battle against the Edmonton Pandas on Friday at 2:30 p.m. The Chiefs will then play the North Central Impact at 9 a.m. on Saturday before taking on St. Albert at 2:30 p.m.



Ian Gustafson

About the Author: Ian Gustafson

Ian began his journalism career as a reporter in Prince Albert, Sask. for the last three years, and was born and raised in Saskatchewan.
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