Playing a trio of games in less than 48 hours proved the Airdrie Lightning’s downfall March 10, as the AA midget women’s hockey team fell in its best-of-three series with the Rocky Mountain Raiders. The series defeat knocked the Lightning out of the Alberta Female Hockey League’s (AFHL) Midget Elite playoffs at the first hurdle, and ended the team’s 2018-19 season a few weeks earlier than the players and coaching staff had hoped. “I feel we went out with a bang,” said left wing Aly Tinevez. “It was a great season. It’s tough to lose this way, but all in all, it was a good one.” Despite enjoying home advantage March 8, Airdrie lost the series opener 4-3 at Genesis Place Recreation Centre. The Lightning’s goals came from Maeve Van’t Klooster, Jeneca Wilkie and Emily Biggin. “We just weren’t as ready as they were on Friday, and starting it off with a loss started us off a little wrong,” said defenseman Emma Hoppins. “They came out fast. We played well, but they obviously played a bit better.” The Lightning rebounded from the loss the following afternoon to overcome the Dewinton-based Raiders 3-2. Codi Bacon registered her first goal of the post-season, while Sarah Nusl and Rachel Selent also tickled twine to tie the series at one game apiece. But with tired legs on the ice, Airdrie was unable to re-create the performance in the deciding game March 10. The home team started off on the wrong foot, going down 3-0 in the first period. “We ran out of gas,” said the team’s head coach, Jay Simpson. “We’d had two really hard games against them. We were up 3-2 last game, and you could see in the third period, with our energy levels, that we were kind of hanging on.” Airdrie brought a goal back in the second frame through Biggin, who shovelled a loose puck into the Raiders’ net from close range during a goalmouth scramble. That made it a two-goal game into the final frame. The third period was marred by numerous stoppages, however, with 10 penalties called – seven for the Raiders and three for the Lightning. “With either team being in the box, it kind of kills the momentum of the game, and it’s tough with all the whistles,” Hoppins said. “We wanted to gain momentum and just couldn’t.” Rocky Mountain made it 4-1 with a power-play goal mid-way through the third period, but Madison Black responded immediately for Airdrie to reduce the visitors’ lead back to two goals. That was as close as the Lightning came to mounting the comeback, though, as the Raiders managed to kill off the game with some sturdy defence. “We got one goal back, but it was one of those games where they seemed to capitalize on their chances,” Simpson said. “You have to give the other team credit, because they really played well.” Airdrie had entered the AFHL playoffs in the fourth seed of the south division, after finishing the regular season with a 15-11 record. Rocky Mountain had finished in fifth, and Airdrie had defeated the Raiders in all four of the two teams’ contests during the regular season. “You have to give it to Okotoks,” Simpson said. “They’ve improved and they worked their butts off, so it is what it is.”
