Pioneers save best for district tourney

PALMER — This past weekend, the Palmer Amateur Hockey Association Girls Tier II team traveled to Anaheim, Calif., for the 2013 Pacific Districts Tournament.

After a good night’s sleep to recover from the 10-hour flight, the girls came out determined and in the zone for their opening game on Thursday against Pasadena. Captain Sara Diltz gave the Lady Pioneers the encouragement they needed with a short-handed goal in the first period. That was followed with an assist to her sister, Hope Diltz, for a final 2-0 victory.

Friday, the girls were up to play team Washington. With less speed and drive as in the previous game, the Pioneers found themselves in a 4-0 deficit up until the third period. With a quick break before the third period the coaches had 15 minutes to light a fire under the team, and it worked. The Diltz girls worked together for another goal from Hope Diltz, assisted by Sara Diltz and Kylie Matson. This sudden surge of excitement on the bench was followed by yet another Hope Diltz goal that was tipped in off of a shot from Elisa Gamez on the blue line. The game ended for a 4-2 loss, but proved to the girls that they were in the tournament.

Saturday’s game was against home rival Team Alaska. With a shorthanded goal from Team Alaska to lead the game and another goal that had a weird bounce to it, the Pioneers were battling for another comeback. Unfortunately, the girls were unable to put any pucks in the opposing net and lost 2-0, ending the tournament for them. It was a difficult loss to take in, but head coach Dan Goff explained that he thought the girls played very well and with great poise for their first big tournament.

“I am very proud of the heart the girls showed and they peaked when they needed to,” Goff said.

The Lady Pioneers went into the tournament with a rough record of 7-25-2, but brought their game for third place in the district tournament. Standout goaltender Emma Denny faced 83 shots and made 77 saves over the weekend.

The girls made the MatSu Valley proud and look forward to going to the national tournament in 2014.