NORCAL Rep Club Blue Diamonds Girls' Ice Hockey Program

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Blue Diamonds Finish 2-2 in National Championships

The NORCAL Rep Blue Diamonds 12-and-under Girls' Ice Hockey Team represented the Pacific District of USA Hockey at the Girls' and Women's National Championships, held in Anaheim, California April 1-5, 1998.

Their 2-2 record represented an excellent showing in this tournament. Never having competed at the national level before, the nation quickly got the word that California girls' hockey is to be taken seriously. Two of the five teams in each division would advance to the semi-finals, and the Blue Diamonds missed the semis because of the third tie-breaker.

Unlike much of their experience in Alaska, each of the four games they played was in doubt well into the third period.

Game 1: Blue Diamonds 3, Chelmsford MA Lions 2

Most of the teams in the division opened play on Thursday, but the Blue Diamonds had to wait until Friday morning for their first game. They opened against the Chelmsford Lions, who had already won two games on Thursday, against Team LA and the Washington Little Capitals. Parents from the Chelmsford group were overheard wondering whether it would help their tie-breaker standing to run up the score.

Much to the surprise of the Massachusetts contingent, the Blue Diamonds had not been told that they were supposed to lose, and jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on a goal by Amy Sudheimer. It stood at 1-0 well into the second period, when Chelmsford finally figured out how to get to NORCAL goalie Amanda Rowe, and the tied the game 1-1. Shortly thereafter, they added a second, and seemed in control of the game at 2-1.

But defenders Kellie Howe, Michelle Chee and Ashley Ocampo decided that two goals were all the Chelmsford squad would get that day, and shut the door from that point on. The Chelmsford squad continued to press deep into the third period, but could not break through, until they finally made a mistake and let Stacey Anderson get free on a breakaway to tie the score 2-2.

Less than a minute later, an almost identical play saw Stacey Anderson take a feed at the blue line, carry it up the ice and bury the puck high on the goeltender's glove side to give NORCAL the 3-2 lead.

The Chelmsford squad pulled out all the stops in the waning minutes of the game, with Amanda Rowe standing tall, making several spectacular saves to hold the NORCAL lead. Then, with under 5 seconds to go, the net was knocked loose, and the referee blew the whistle to stop play, just as a Chelmsford player took a shot from the blue line. Whether the puck went in the net because of the whistle, or whether it would have gone in anyway is impossible to tell, but the play definitely caused the Chelmsford squad and their coach to lose their composure. The final face-off was tied up by the NORCAL players and the buzzer went off, signalling a new power to be dealt with in girls' hockey.

Game 2: Team LA 3, NORCAL 0

The NORCAL team's second game of the day was against downstate rival Team LA. Having beaten Team LA in San Jose in January, the NORCAL team was optimistic going into the game, and knew that a win or tie over LA would virtually assure them of advancing to the semi-finals. The LA team came into the game already having lost to both Chelmsford and Wisconsin, and were hungry for a win.

The game did not go as the NORCAL team planned. After a closely-fought scoreless first period, the LA team scored on the opening face-off of the second period on a shot from just inside the blue line through traffic that beat Amanda Rowe high on her glove side.

At that point, the LA goaltender took control of the game. Despite several nearly point-blank shots from the NORCAL forwards, the Blue Diamonds just could not break through. The score stood at 1-0 until late in the third period, when LA scored their second goal.

The NORCAL squad continued to press, but could not break through on the LA goalie. The LA team added an empty net goal in the final minute to seal the 3-0 score.

Game 3: Winsonsin Challengers 7, NORCAL 3

The NORCAL team opened play Saturday against the defending national champions, the Wisconsin Challengers. Wisconsin came into the game with three wins to their credit, and seemed to be in an excellent position to repeat as champions.

The Wisconsin team came out skating hard, and before the first period was half over, the Blue Diamonds found themselves facing a 3-0 deficit. Many in the arena started looking for something else to do, as it looked for all the world as if a rout were in progress.

Once again, the NORCAL team showed their character and fought back. A late goal in the first period cut that lead to 3-1.

Building on the momentum of their late goal, the Blue Diamonds came out hard in the second period, stopping almost every advance by the Wisconsin team, and adding two more goals. But Wisconsin came back before the end of the period and took the lead again, 4-3.

4-3 is where the score stood, with the Wisconsin defence stopping the rush after rush by the Blue Diamonds, and the Blue Diamonds defence doing the same to Wisconsin. Finally, with a little more than 4 minutes remaining in the contest, Wisconsin's big forward broke through and scored their fifth goal.

The shot did more than add to their lead, it also managed to find an unprotected spot on Amanda Rowe's leg, and the NORCAL players and parents looked on anxiously as Amanda was treated by coach Tom Wallace and the staff paramedics. To everyone's applause, Amanda finally picked herself back up and got in the net again. But the tide had turned, and Wisconsin added two more goals before the final buzzer.

The NORCAL staff knew that a win or tie with Wisconsin was the only was to get into the semi-finals, and they took away the satisfaction of being the only team in the division to have any success whatsoever against Wisconsin. Wisconsin ended up beating New Hampshire 3-2 in the semi finals, losing to Assabet Valley, Massachusetts 1-0 in the Championship.

Game 4: NORCAL 2, Washington DC Little Capitals 1

The NORCAL team went into their final game knowing that the tie-breaking formulas had already decided their fate. NORCAL, LA and Chelmsford all ended up play at 2-2. Chelmsford had beaten LA by 2 goals, and lost to NORCAL by 1. NORCAL had lost to LA by 3. The tie breakers, based on goal differential in those three games, gave the nod to LA.

So coach Tom Wallace went into the final game determined to see that the younger players on the team would get their chance to show their skills in the National Championships.

From the opening face-off on, the younger Blue Diaomnds players pounced on their chance to play in the national spotlight, and made the most of their chance. NORCAL opened with an early goal by 10-year-old Kellie Howe. Amanda Rowe continued her masterey and rebuffed several chances by the Washington squad.

Then early in the third period, one of the youngest NORCAL players, 9-year-old Annie Lathrop, let loose a shot from the high slot that beat the Washington goalie 5-hole, to give the NORCAL team a 2-0 lead. Her goal in the Nationals, taken together with her goal during the Alaska tournament, mark Annie as a future star of the NORCAL team.

And as fate would have it, that goal turned out to be the game winner. Late in the third period, the Washington forwards finally figured out Amanda Rowe, and scored a goal of their own, making the final score 2-1.

National Tournament Background

There were 10 teams in the 12-U National Tournament, divided into two divisions, National and American.

USA Hockey Districts:

• Atlantic - Delaware, Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey
• Central - Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Mid-American - Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia
• Minnkota - Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota
• New England - Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont
• New York
• Pacific - Alaska, Hawaii, California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington
• Rocky Mountain - Arizona, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Idaho, Texas, Utah, Wyoming
• Southeastern - Alabama, Arkansas, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia

USA Hockey Pacific District Championships
Anchorage, Alaska

NORCAL Rep Blue Diamonds win USA Hockey Pacific District Girls' 12-U Championship

The NORCAL Rep Blue Diamonds swept their way to the District Championship, beating the Alaska Firebirds 5-1 in Anchorage Alaska. The game was much closer than the score indicated. The Blue Diamonds fell behind in the first period, tied it up in the second, and scored the eventual game-winner with 7 minutes remaining in the third.

The game winner was scored by Noelle Scott of Foster City. Amanda Rowe of Santa Cruz played 5 games in goal, allowing but one score, in the Championship game. Stacy Anderson of Lafayette led all scorers with 10 goals and 3 assists in 5 games. Amy Sudheimer of Suisun City had 4 goals and 6 assists. Michelle Chee of San Francisco contributed 2 goals and 5 assists. Even 9-year-old Annie Lathrop of Oakland got on the scoreboard with an unassisted goal on a breakaway in their win over the Panthers.

Blue Diamonds goal tender Amanda Rowe finished the tournament with 5 wins, four shutouts, a 0.20 goals against average, and a .969 save percentage. Stacy Anderson finished the tournament having registered a goal in each of the five games, including 2 game winning goals.

See the Roster page for the roster of the Pacific District Champion Blue Diamonds 12-U team.

Preliminary game stories:

The NORCAL Rep Blue Diamonds 12-and-under team opened play in the Pacific District Tier I Regionals in Anchorage Alaska with a convincing 9-0 win over the Alaska Firebirds. Amanda Rowe of Santa Cruz held the Firebirds scoreless, while Stacy Anderson of Lafayette dominated the game with 5 goals and 2 assists. Linemate Amy Sudheimer of Suisun City had a goal and an assist, Michelle Chee of San Francisco had a goal and two assists, and Kellie Howe of Burlingame, and Alina Rock of Berkeley contributed with a goal each.

In their second game of the tournament against Seattle, the result was not quite so clear cut. Facing an awesome performance by the Seattle goal tender, the Blue Diamonds managed but a single goal on 38 shots. But the goal was enough, with the Blue Diamonds emerging with a hard-fought 1-0 victory. With 8:13 remaining in the third period of the scoreless game, Stacy Anderson put the game winner away on a feed from Lindsay Wallace of Santa Rosa. The Blue Diamonds defense carried them the rest of the way, surviving a penalty with 3 minutes remaining in the game, followed by a 6-player attack for the last minute as the Seattle team pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker.

The second day of action in Anchorage found the Blue Diamonds facing off against the Fairbanks Ice Breakers. The Blue Diamonds made this game a true team affair, with six different players scoring goals, leading to a 7-0 victory. Amanda Rowe extended her shutout streak to 3. Kellie Howe of Burlingame had two goals and an assist. Noelle Scott scored her first goal of the tournament, and Soya Han of Union City registered her first assist.

The second game of the day was against the Anchorage Hockey Association Panthers. Finishing with an identical 7-0 score, the Blue Diamonds relied again on a whole-team effort, with six different players scoring goals. Laura Wallace of Santa Rosa led the way with two goals, Soya Han registered her first goal, Lindsay Wallace of Santa Rosa contributed an assist, and one of the youngest members of the team, 9-year-old Annie Lathrop of Oakland, scored a goal on a breakaway in the second period. The Amanda Rowe shutout streak was still alive at 4.

Team USA Clinic

The Blue Diamonds were invited and took part in a clinic with Team USA Women's Hockey Team. The girls got to meet and skate with Cammi Granato, Angela Ruggiero, Katie King, Sarah De Costa, Coleen Coyne and several other Team USA members.

The Blue Diamonds would like to thank Visa for sponsoring the clinic and inviting our girls.

Series with Team L. A.

The Blue Diamonds met their Southern California rival, Team L. A., for a series of games planned to coincide with the Team USA / Team Canada pre-Olympic exhibition game at the San Jose Arena.

The 12-and-under teams met in three hotly contested games, with Team L. A. winning the first 9-3, and third 5-3. The Blue Diamonds won the second game 6-0, featuring a hat trick by Amy Sudheimer of Suisun City, and a shutout by 10-year-old Amanda Rowe of Santa Cruz.

The 19-U team played Team L. A. 15-U team at Dublin. Although tightly contested throughout, Team L. A. came out on top by a 4-0 score.

As a wonderful capper to the weekend, the Blue Diamonds 19-U team faced off against Team LA 15-U at the San Jose Arena on Tuesday night. In front of a near-capacity crowd (well, maybe 150 stayed), the girls put on a wonderful exhibition.

With goals by Chrissy Sands (assist: Kathy Sands), and Amy Sudheimer (assists: Stacy Anderson and Lindsay Wallace), the Blue Diamonds goaltenders (Judith Sanchez and Natalie Martinez) did the rest, shutting out Team LA for a 2-0 win.

Blue Diamonds 12-U Team Receive Donation from AHOC

AHOC, the local referee association, has given the Blue Diamonds a $500 donation, to be used to offset costs of their trip to Anchorage.

The Blue Diamonds encourage you to treat the refs well during your next game.

Blue Diamonds Receive Grant from Visa

Visa, sponsors of the Team USA / Team Canada pre-Olympic tour, have awarded a $1000 grant to the NORCAL Rep Blue Diamonds to aid in the development of local youth hockey for girls.

The Blue Diamonds encourage you to charge lots of expensive purchases on your Visa Card.

Amy's guide to Girls' Ice Hockey Camps

Follow this link to see Amy's guide to 1998 Girls' Ice Hockey Camps

If you have any questions, please call: