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Special to USAHockey.com

Over the last four years, the Utah Thunder have done their best — and then some — to put women’s hockey on the map in Utah.

Case in point: the Thunder has captured consecutive USA Hockey Women’s National C Division championships in 2011 and 2012.

“We formed a team four years ago after a lot of our girls aged out of the U-18 level,” assistant captain Morgan Marietti said. “We wanted a place to play that was in a competitive environment because none of us had played college hockey.

“We put together tryouts and recruited a coaching staff that has been with us for four years.”

That staff includes Morgan’s father, Dennis, who’s the head coach, along with assistant coaches Ralph Benoit (whose daughter Emma also plays on the team) and Chris McPhee.

Forming a team is one thing. Finding competition was another.

“There are only about eight women’s hockey teams in the entire state,” Morgan Marietti said. “Most of them are recreational teams comprised of mothers whose kids play. We’re the only competitive team.

“We don’t play other women’s teams. We have some pretty big men’s leagues in Utah and four run throughout the year. So we play teams in various men’s leagues.”

At the risk of stating the obvious, playing against men’s teams has its plusses a minuses.

“We determine which teams push us to the next level and let us run, say, power plays prior to going to nationals,” Marietti said. “Some teams are better to play against than others because some don’t want to lose to a women’s team, especially if we show we can beat them.”

But like everything else in life, there is an exception to that rule.

“One team, the Canucks, has a party when we get to nationals and cheers us on,” Maretti said. “It’s been like a buddy system.”

Once the Thunder gets to nationals, though, it’s all business.

“The first year we won was our second trip to nationals,” Marietti said. “We were blown away by the level of play. Because we don’t have teams out here to play against we weren’t sure what the competition would be like.

“But we knew we had the tools in our toolbox to do what we thought we could do, especially in our second year.”

Marietti credits much of the team’s success to the coaching of her father and his staff, which she said prepares the team prior to nationals and instills a sense of discipline that is invaluable when the Thunder confront teams that play together during the regular season.

The flip side of that coin is whether a son or daughter plays for either parent the situation often can be contentious.

“He’s coached me my entire life,” Marietti said of her father. “He’s my dad off the ice and my coach when we get to the rink.

“He doesn’t treat me differently so I have to work harder because he doesn’t want to show favoritism over another player.”

But coaching notwithstanding, Marietti realizes that winning one national championship, let alone two, doesn’t happen by accident.

“There’s an amazing level of dedication that our team has, not only as a team but for each other,” she said. “We know that one player can’t win it alone. The level of unity within our team is so high.

“We’re really connected with each other.”

That “level of unity,” which has its roots when the Thunder women were playing girls’ hockey, was another factor in the team’s success.

“Because we had played together when we were younger, that helped us in challenging situations because we knew each other,” Marietti said. “It’s nice to have things click when you really need them to click.”

The Thunder definitely clicked at the 2012 nationals when they went undefeated (6-0) and brought home their second title.

“The atmosphere was so different last year,” Marietti said. “In Massachusetts [nationals were held at the New England Sports Center in Marlboro], because the level of play had increased so much, it was tough.

“We went down to the wire in a couple of games.”

Eventually, the Thunder beat Caha, a team comprised of women from North and South Carolina, 2-0 in the finals.

“Our overall experience at nationals every year has been amazing,” Marietti said. “Players on other teams have been great to play against and the tournaments have been set up great.

“It’s been fun to get to know other teams and yet still be able to hit the heights.”

In retrospect, “hitting the heights” might help foster the growth of women’s hockey in Utah.

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.