Female midget AAA Fire burn Raiders
By Brady Grove, Times Reporter
Brady Grove Photo
The game featured local 16-year-old Natalie Funk on left defense for the Raiders and also gave some female players from the Strathmore Minor Hockey Association (SMHA) a chance to see some high-level hockey.
“It was really cool, I had some friends who came out and watched,” said Funk. “The little girls were really excited and it was cool to see them and to get them some exposure to the higher levels.”
Funk is a multisport athlete and plays lots of sports including basketball, fastball and track events. She hasn’t specialized in any specific sport yet but suspects she will make a decision in the near future. Funk is an honours student as well and really enjoys the science subjects. She admits it can be tough to manage sports and school, with homework sometimes being done in the car.
Funk has played hockey since she was five and described herself as a gritty stay-at-home defense who tries to protect her zone and teammates. She isn’t limited to just the defensive side of the puck, however, as she saw a lot of power play time against the Fire where she operated as a quarterback, moving the puck to her teammates and keeping it in the offensive zone for another chance to score.
The first period was a back-and-forth with both sides taking turns on the offensive attack. The goalies were sharp and remained perfect, turning aside all 18 shots thrown their way. However, the Fire wasn’t content with an even game and came out guns blazing in the second. They scored the game’s first goal in seven seconds after winning the faceoff.
The Raiders countered while shorthanded by blocking a shot and taking it all the way to the other end, sneaking a shot through to tie it up with 13 minutes left in the second. After being scored on, the Fire didn’t give the Raiders much and were outshooting them 27-13, adding one more goal before the period ended.
The power play was a huge factor in the third period. The Fire scored their third goal on a low sizzling point shot that beat the Raiders goalie five-hole. The Raiders responded with a beautiful backdoor pass from the point for the easy tap-in. But it all came down to a full five-on-three for the Raiders with only a few minutes remaining.
“We’ve worked on our five versus three penalty kill and I was just hoping for execution,” said Fire head coach Terry Johnson. “I thought if we executed the way we did in practice we would be in good shape.”
The Raiders fired pucks from everywhere but couldn’t tie it up as the Fire goalie stood on her head and got the help she needed from her defender. The Raiders even pulled the goalie after the power play for one final rush, but it didn’t pay off as the Fire scored on the empty net to insure the win. The Fire ended up outshooting the Raiders 35-28 but the Raiders made a strong attempt at a comeback in the final period.
Raiders head coach Dustin Borbandy had nothing but positive things to say about Funk’s performance for the Raiders this season and put her out during the final five-on-three push.
“She’s very hard on herself and she wants to be perfect,” said Borbandy. “She’s always competing and striving to be the best so she brings a characteristic that other girls like to feed off of.”
The game between the Fire and Raiders was an opportunity for young female players aged four to 10 in the SMHA system to come and watch the older girls play. The SMHA players participated in a skating relay during the first and second intermission and a meet and greet with the Raiders after the game.
SMHA female director Kim Wassing wanted to showcase to players and residents in the community what high level female hockey looks like and where they can go.
“There are some very talented female athletes that have goals and ambitions to play elite hockey, play in the NWHL, play for Team Canada,” said Wassing. “It’s great hockey and I would like to see the fan base grow.”
Wassing is no stranger to the challenges many female hockey players face and grew up playing against boys. Once female players hit a certain age they usually move from a male-dominated team and league to a female specific, but there weren’t many options available when Wassing was playing.
“At the age of 15 a couple of us traveled as far Olds just to play on a female team,” said Wassing.
There are currently over 100 female players in the SMHA system and Wassing is going to continue to promote that side of the game with a goal of having a female elite program based in Strathmore in the future. Funk said it would be really hard to turn down playing for a hometown team.