Ravens eager to continue growth

WASILLA — For the last six years, coaches and organizers of the Mat-Su Ravens have steadily worked to build the local girls prep hockey team.

Now, with a new staff, the Ravens are eager to take the next step.

First-year head coach Mark Engan has taken the reigns of the Valley program, with the help of assistants David Mulneaux, Tod Richards, Carrie Glatz and Scott Johnson.

Earlier this week, Engan said he’s excited for the future of the Ravens program, and the overall growth of girls’ hockey in the Valley. The Palmer Amateur Hockey Association now has a pair of all-girls teams — U12 and U19 squads. The Matanuska Amateur Hockey Association and the Junior Avalanche Hockey Association both have girls’ teams.

Engan said he hopes added opportunity for girls to play hockey with the local youth leagues helps his program.

“We’re working with the youth associations out here in the Valley to help encourage younger girls to get into hockey,” Engan said.

Engan said a large portion of the 2012-13 Ravens also play on the Palmer Pioneers U19 squad.

“It’s great for Palmer, great for us,” he said.

But the Ravens also hail from across the Valley. Engan said his team currently has five players who attend Palmer High and five more from Wasilla High. There are four from Colony High, in addition to players from other schools such as Houston High and Mat-Su Career Tech.

In past years, some of the top girls in the Valley have opted to play for their respective boys’ high school teams. Engan said that is still the case, but he hopes to continue to try to make the Ravens program the destination for the Valley’s best girls hockey players in the high school age group.

“We’ve lost a couple girls here and there to the boys teams. We understand it. If the girl is good enough to get a spot on the boys varsity team, it might not be a bad thing for them, but it hurts our program,” Engan said.

But with the continued development of the program and the potential of a girls high school state tournament in the near future, Engan said the Ravens will have better opportunity in the future to land the Valley’s best.

Engan praised the efforts of prior Ravens staff members and coaches, most notably former head coach Dudley Boehm.

“I think they did an excellent job of getting (the program) started,” Engan said. “They started with nothing.”

Engan also said the Ravens have a nice core of talent returning to the team. Five seniors will help lead the team, which also includes seven juniors.

The Ravens drop the puck on their season Nov. 2 against South-Bartlett at Ben Boeke Arena in Anchorage.

“That will give us a good feeling of where we’re at,” Engan said.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and find him by searching Valley Sports Huddle on Facebook.