Cochrane's Kara Kondrat was named playoff MVP for the female division of the Mac AAA Midget Tournament that saw the Rocky Mountain Raiders win their second consecutive title on New Year's Day.

Kondrat, 17, was one of the two Cochrane players with gold medals dangling from their necks for the second straight year in the elite tournament as the team continues to strive towards returning to the national Esso Cup championship this spring. 

The powerful forward had just returned to the roster after being left on the sideline with an injury for a little over two months and was anxious to play.

'I came back just before the Mac from an ankle injury so getting that meant a lot to me," says Kondrat.

Now in her fourth and final year with the club, she notched five goals and four assists in the round robin and was one of their top scorers with 2.25 points per game average in her four appearances. In the semifinals, she notched an assist against the Delta Academy Wild before scoring two and assisting on one in the gold medal match against the Northern Bears. 

She was particularly pleased with how the team performed in the tournament.

"It's a really good feeling knowing we can come back and hold our victory. I think we have lots of depth on our team to do that."

"All of our hopes are on making it to the Esso Cup n Nova Scotia, but it's going to be a hard work. I feel like with the confidence from winning the Mac's we can really pull through this year."

Having Kondrat back in the lineup for the tournament was great timing, says Pozzi.

"She's been hampered the first half of the season, but now she's starting to come into her own and is doing really well, so it's a great time to get her playing at her best."

Netminder Stephanie Gross also made her second appearance in the tournament and had only one goal scored against her in her two games in the round robin. She was named to the 1st all-star team last year.

Raiders named to the all-star team were Kondrat's linemates Mary McDonald and Chloe Puddifant as well as Isabella Pozzi.

The Raiders have been a force in AAA midget hockey in Western Canada for several years and head coach Paul Pozzi says they've been building towards this particular season.

"We built this team with this year in mind," says Pozzi. "We have 13 seniors and have a very experienced and a very solid core. We added some skill and size this year and we have a big team and other teams tell us we're hard to play against because we're big and strong and skilled. We've got a great core, it's been a good ride."

The team came into the tournament with a solid endurance plan that includes rolling all four lines and both goalies as well as keeping well hydrated to conserve as much energy as possible. 

"It turned out the way we thought it would if we could manage our energy and things like that and we knew we would have a good chance to repeat. It worked out in our favour."

The 'AAA' midget female team became the first back-to-back winners of their division since 2008. They have appeared in the last three finals and settled for silver three years ago against the Northern Capitals. They got their revenge, though, by beating the Capitals later in the season to advance to the Esso Cup. 

Right now they at within reach of top spot in the Alberta Female Hockey League standings and they have games against their nearest rivals over the next two weekends. They're on the road against both the league-leading Red Deer Chiefs and St. Albert Slash and only four points separate the three teams. On the weekend they beat the fourth place Lloydminster Steelers in overtime to stay in contention.

Kondrat has played hockey since she was 8. She played in the boys' leagues for both the Cochrane Rockies and the Bow Valley Timberwolves before joining the Raiders for one season in bantams then advancing to the midget team underage. She is also an avid lacrosse player and played for the Junior Ladies Silvertips last season. She's been playing for seven years.

"It's a great off-season training for hockey and it's a lot of fun."

Kondrat is graduating from Cochrane High this year and has made a five-year commitment to play hockey for the University of Saskatchewan.