Local girls youth hockey squad qualifies for national tournament

PALMER — For nearly a decade, coaches throughout the Valley have worked to build, and maintain, girls’ competitive youth hockey in the Mat-Su area. The desire has always been to create programs that can compete on not just the state level, but also the national level.

Those hopes have now become a reality.

The Palmer Pioneers U14 squad captured the title in the Pacific District Championships in Anaheim, California, earlier this month, and will move forward to compete in the 2017 USA Hockey Youth National Championships.

“This is what we’ve been working on for probably about eight years, collectively with all of the associations in the Valley,” Pioneers head coach Mark Engan said of creating nationally competitive girls hockey programs in the Valley.

Engan said coaches want to provide opportunities for local players to compete at the highest level, without the need to travel to Anchorage or beyond to participate.

The success of the Pioneers U14 team is a product of the growth of the PAHA girls programs, and the 2017 U14 group made history for the association. Engan said this is PAHA’s first team to qualify for a national tournament. The Pioneers U16 team has been right on the doorstep, finishing as the Pacific District runner-up twice. The group now playing at the U16 level, also finished as the district runner-up as a U14 squad.

The 2017 squad finished 5-0 in the district championships, March 2-5 in Anaheim. The team beat the Seattle Jr. Admirals 3-1, and two different Anaheim Lady Ducks squads, each time by the score of 4-1. The Pioneers also faced a pair of state rivals, beating the Alaska Icebreakers 1-0 and the Anchorage North Stars 3-2.

“This was our team goal,” Engan said of winning the district title. “We as coaches set a goal with the players to win districts back in August. You never know how that’s going to turn out. You set (the goals) high and hope they make it. That was the focus this year, and they lived up to it, achieved that goal.”

Engan said this group really excels in tournament play. The Pioneers have traveled outside of Alaska for three tournaments, so far, and have won two of them. In addition to the district championships, the Pioneers also won a tournament in Chicago during the regular season.

“They are a phenomenal tournament team. They really do well when you get them in a tournament, especially outside,” Engan said.

The Pioneers will be part of the U14 Tier II national tournament, scheduled for April 6-10 in Troy, Michigan.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.