Following their Colorado State Championship two weeks ago, the Colorado Springs U19 AA Lady Tigers traveled to Phoenix, AZ last weekend (March 17-20) to compete for the Rocky Mountain District Championship.

After an opening game 4-0 loss to Utah, the team had to regroup before two games the following day against the Arizona Lady Coyotes and the Idaho Lady Roughriders. After a good night’s sleep, the girls were ready to play and under the outstanding goaltending of Katy Cooley, the team posted back to back shutouts of 4-0 and 5-0, respectively.  The two wins set up a rematch in the championship game against Utah.

The Tigers capitalized in the first period with a goal from Sr. Julia Stewart. The remaining period and a half remained scoreless and the Tigers went into the second intermission with a one goal lead.  Coming out ready to play in the third, Shelbi Cornelison tallied during the first shift of the third period to give the Tigers a two goal cushion.  The lead stayed at two until Utah scored a power play goal midway through the third to cut the lead in half. After a timeout with two minutes remaining in the third, Utah came back out with their goaltender pulled for the extra attacker. As she had done all season, Cooley was a brick wall in the Tigers net and the victory was sealed when CiCi Knight scored an empty net goal with just under a minute to play.

In just their first season as a AA team, the Lady Tigers have proven they are a force and are ready to compete in USA Hockey Nationals, April 5-10 in Troy, MI.

Congratulations Lady Tigers!