WEHA Blades girls take state title

“The biggest key to success was that they absolutely played as a team”

For the second time in the last three years, the U-19 Blades girls hockey team brought home the state title. It was the perfect cap to what has been a dominating season for the West Elk Hockey Association (WEHA) team.
The Blades finished the regular season at the top of the league standings with a record of 12-1-3 and entered the post-season tournament with a huge target on their backs. Despite the pressure of being the team to beat, confidence was high among players and coaches as the Blades appeared to be peaking at just the right time.
“They were definitely primed and ready,” says head coach Tony Lambert. “They started getting that killer instinct.”
The Blades opened the tournament on Friday, February 20 against Colorado Springs and after a slow start, the Blades recovered to rattle off six goals, including four in the third period, to seal the 6-2 win. Elizabeth Stepanek led all scorers with two goals and an assist, followed by Leila Nichols who also netted two.
“It was a little closer than I liked for about half of the game,” says Lambert.
The team returned to the ice later that day to face New Mexico. New Mexico added a player to their roster for the state tournament in an effort to make a post-season run but the Blades made the adjustments to keep her in check.
Maddie Lambert broke the scoreless tie late in the first period scoring off an assist from Stepanek, and Bradley Santelli scored early in the second period for a 2-0 Blades lead. The Blades’ play stifled New Mexico for the remainder of the game to hold on to the 2-0 win.
“It was pretty easy to focus on that one person,” says Lambert.
With the first two tournament wins out of the way, the Blades took to the ice Saturday morning against Steamboat. Steamboat’s numbers were depleted from illness and injury and the Blades jumped on them early to take a 2-0 lead paced by goals from Hailey Pike.
Steamboat cut into the Blades’ lead at the end of the first period but Izzie Dethloff scored in the second period for a 3-1 lead and Alexis Duke added a fourth goal in the final minute of the game to cap the 4-1 win.
The Blades then lined up for another rematch with the Aspen Leafs. The two teams have a long history, often meeting in the state finals with Aspen getting the best of the Blades, but the Blades were set on reminding Aspen who was in charge these days.
“We wanted some serious redemption after last year,” says Lambert.
It was another classic showdown between the two teams until the Blades shifted into overdrive. After trading off goals with Aspen, they closed the second period on goals from Nichols and Stepanek to take a 4-1 lead into the third period.
Aspen scored early in the third period and were running just two lines to try to mount a comeback but the Blades outlasted them with three lines running and cruised to the 4-2 win and a trip to the state tournament championship game to face Summit.
“We pretty much opened up a can and just started flying,” says Lambert. “There was a good vibe on the bench and I could clearly see we had quite a bit more jump. We were winning races to the puck and battles for the puck and good things happen from that.”
The Blades met Summit twice during the regular season, winning one and tying the other and the game would prove to be the ultimate title match-up between the two best teams in the league.
After a tenuous opening three minutes, the teams combined for three goals in a two-minute span. Summit started off the scoring but Lambert tied the game up 45 seconds later, scoring off an assist from Stepanek. Summit responded to retake the lead but midway through the second period the Blades capitalized on a power play as Ashley Crittendon curled through the high slot to stuff a shot top-shelf and tie the game 2-2.
The two teams then traded off runs at each other in the third period and the Blades soon found themselves in a seriously tight spot when a succession of infractions left them in a five-on-three penalty kill with five minutes left in regulation.
The Blades killed off the penalty and the two teams finished the game notched in a 2-2 tie and headed to overtime.
Both teams opened the overtime with their first lines and when Summit dumped the puck to change lines, Lambert corralled the loose puck and turned immediately up ice. As Summit’s second line came out scrambling to recover, Lambert took to the open swath of ice and crossed the blue line into Summit’s zone and ripped a wrist-shot top-shelf for the game winner and the state title.
“It was earned for sure,” says Lambert. “It took years off my life and off every parent.”
While Lambert admits he was unsure of how the season would play out when the team first hit the ice, two things made the difference as the season progressed.
“I couldn’t be happier with their success and how hard the girls worked—they never quit working,” says Lambert. “The biggest key to success was that they absolutely played as a team.”