With the CAHA State Tournament looming, the Lady Ducks 16U AAA team went into playoff mode a couple of weeks early to win the Mountain Mayhem tournament north of Denver over MLK weekend.
All five games were decided by one goal, with the LDs prevailing over Team Colorado, 2-1, when defenseman Kiera Lieu scored in the fifth round of a shootout on Jan. 18.
"Everyone contributed in a way," coach Keely Moy said. "We had energy on the bench and everyone was ready to go whenever they were needed. Everyone wanted to see their teammates succeed, and that's the crux of everything I want to see.
"All credit to them for never giving up."
The LDs very easily could have folded their tents at any point, especially after losing three close games in the round-robin portion of the tournament, including 1-0 to Team Colorado in a shootout in the opener. They also fell to the St. Louis Lady Blues and the San Jose Jr. Sharks 4-3 in see-saw games.
"It was neck-and-neck every game," Moy said.
The Jr. Sharks are a team the LDs will face at State at Great Park Ice and Fivepoint Arena in Irvine.
"It will be a good game at states. The Jr. Sharks have improved and are working hard, just as we are," Moy said.
The semifinal against St. Louis was another back-and-forth game, with the Lady Ducks winning 3-2 in overtime on Aubrey Lee's second goal of the game 3:34 in. Lee had tied it early in the third after Janelle Tobin had given the LDs a 1-0 lead in the first.
"Aubrey scored a super-nice goal," Moy said. "She took it in the (offensive) zone, walked it in and tucked it past the goalie."
That set up another rematch for the banner.
"A lot of teams will have a really intense semifinal and then crumble in the final," Moy said. "I let the girls know we didn't come to just win a semifinal. They had that confidence."
Team Colorado scored first, but Miriam Lee-Pletcher tied it in the second period. Sarah Johnson and Elle Delgado scored in the shootout to answer Team Colorado goals, then Tara Milhorn slammed the door and Lieu scored in the fifth round. Milhorn made 51 saves in regulation and overtime combined in the final after stopping 34 shots in the semifinal.
"Tara stood on her head in the semifinals and final," Moy said. "She faced the most shots of anyone in the tournament."
Delgado had three goals in round-robin play, and Johnson, Tobin and Lee each had one.
By Chris Bayee