Storm take silver at provincials

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

The bond that the Strathmore female midget A Storm has forged this year made being down by one in the provincial final with only minutes remaining seem like a cake walk.
The Storm pulled their goalie with just over two minutes remaining down 2-1 to the SPS Fuzion Stars.
Like a tidal wave, the scoring chances were overwhelming the Stars, but they couldn’t get the lucky break they needed in the final moments of the gold medal match to force overtime March 25 at the Ardrossan Recreation Complex East.
“We played outstanding all weekend. It was a war of attrition and the girls dug deep,” said Storm Head Coach Clay Armstrong. “They left it all on the ice and that’s all I could have asked for.”
Losing a provincial final doesn’t even blip on the radar of life when you take into account what the Storm have lost this season.
One of their key contributors this season, Emma Armstrong, was involved in a fatal car accident and passed away. The Storm could have packed it in under the most difficult circumstances, but they powered through it, gelled as a team and through the outstanding support of their teammates, coaching staff, parents on the team and the community, finished the season on their terms.
That doesn’t mean that coming home with a silver still doesn’t sting a little bit.
“We have a fantastic group here. The players have leaned on the coaching staff and us coaches have leaned on the players to get through this season,” said Emma’s dad, Clay. “It’s been hard, no doubt about that, but we’ve shown that we can fight our way through adversity this season.”
The Storm trailed 1-0 in the second, when Ashlyn Riley directed home a power play goal from Karissa Hammond.
Larissa Hiebert made 36 saves in the finale, but it wasn’t enough to slow down the Stars, who ripped through the weekend undefeated.
The Storm was on the other side of a 2-1 decision in the semis, when Kaitlyn Stewart knocked home the eventual winner four minutes into the third period against the EG712 Inferno.
The Storm finished the round robin in first in Pool B with a 2-1 record. They kicked off the weekend with a 5-2 win over the EG713 Wildcats March 23, slipped up to the Calgary Hockey Club Red Inferno 3-2, but finished strong with a 5-0 blanking of the Okotoks Oilers.
“We have played a lot of hockey lately when you think about it,” said Armstrong. “We played last weekend, went through a pair of playoff games last week and now played five games in three days at provincials.”
There was still enough gas in the tank for the Storm to knock off the Inferno in Game 3 of the best-of-three Rocky Mountain Female Hockey League final.
The Inferno took Game 1 6-2 at Murray T. Copot Arena. The Storm bounced back with a solid 3-1 victory in Game 2 at the Strathmore Family Centre.
The Storm showed no signs of fatigue when they blanked the Inferno 3-0 March 27 in Game 3 of the best-of-three league final.
Camryn Riley opened the scoring, Justine Larson added one goal and Abby Hilton popped one in the empty net to secure the league banner.
“This season is about them and the work that they, along with everyone involved with the team has put into it,” said Armstrong. “It isn’t about tragedy, it’s about the girls and how well they have come together.”