Rebels’ Focht a great made in Regina story

Lauren Focht is the Rebels all-time leading scorer.

    Lauren Focht keeps piling up the highlights and milestones with her elite hometown team.

    On Tuesday at Crescent Point Place in Weyburn, Focht became the all-time leading scorer in regular season for her Regina Rebels female midget AAA hockey team. The skilled forward, who turned 18-years-old in January, picked up a goal and an assist as the Rebels thumped the host Richardson Pioneer Gold Wings 8-2 in a Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League regular season game.

    The effort gave Focht 66 goals and 56 assists for 122 points in 102 regular season games. That put Focht one point ahead of Emma Waldenberger for top spot on the Rebels all-time regular season scoring list.

    Waldenberger collected 60 goals and 61 assists for 121 points playing in 109 career regular season games for the Rebels from 2010 to 2014.

    Besides being the Rebels all-time leader in career points, Focht, who stands 5-foot-3, is also the Rebels leader in all-time career goals. Her 66 tallies ranks eighth on the SFMAAAHL all-time career regular season goals list.

Lauren Focht is the Rebels all-time leader in career goals.

    Focht’s 122 career points are good for 11^th place on the SFMAAAHL’s all-time career regular season points list. Over the Rebels final three games, she has a chance to move past former Saskatoon Stars captain Lauren Zary for 10^th on the SFMAAAHL’s all-time scoring list.

    Zary piled up 44 goals and 82 assists for 126 points playing 103 regular season games with the Stars from 2008 to 2012.

    Focht hasn’t just burst on the scene with the Rebels. She has produced consistent offensive numbers with the team over her four seasons never falling below 23 points in any campaign.

    This season, Focht currently sits second in team scoring with 14 goals and 22 assists for 36 points. Her assist total is a career high showing her playmaking abilities can be just as good as her scoring touch around the net.

    Focht is a Rebels co-captain along with gifted offensive defender Sydney Pedersen.

Actually, Focht doesn’t actively pay attention to her personal statistics and is more focused on team success. You get the feeling she relishes the fact she gets to be one of the sparkplugs that makes the deep Rebels machine go.

    Last season, the Rebels showed they were ready to play with Canada’s best in the female midget AAA hockey ranks. 

Lauren Focht been one of the Rebels most consistent players.

    They finished second in the SFMAAAHL with a 17-7-4 record, advanced to the league championship series and fell to a powerhouse Stars club that was loaded with superstar veterans.

    The Rebels gave the Stars their only regular season loss in the 2018-19 campaign.

    With another year of experience under their collective belts, the Rebels have already locked up first place in the SFMAAAHL with an impressive 26-1-1 record and they are Canada’s top rated female midget AAA hockey team according to the My Hockey Rankings site. The Rebels last topped the SFMAAAHL standings in the 2013-14 campaign.
    The current Rebels have a drive and self-belief that is powerful and beyond the teenage years of the players.

    In Tuesday’s win over the Gold Wings, the Rebels offensive output came from a number of sources. Pedersen and Neena Brick both had two goals and an assist. Kaylee Dyer had a goal and an assist, while Megan Hayhurst and Shaelyn Myers had singles.

    Alexis Petford had a pair of assists, while Penny Bellefontaine and Jasmine Lamotte had single assists.

    Jayden Baker and Lauren Demmans both had a goal and an assist for the Gold Wings.

Lauren Focht (#22) doesn’t actively follow her personal statistics.

    Payton Schlamp made 16 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Rebels. Veteran Chloe Burt turned away 49 shots to take the setback in net for the Gold Wings, who fell to 5-22-2.

    The Rebels return to action this coming Thursday, when they host the Battlefords Sharks at 8 p.m. at the Co-operators Centre.

    Brick, who has been Focht’s linemate for much of the current campaign, leads the SFMAAAHL in scoring with 28 goals and 27 assists for 55 points skating in her sophomore 16-year-old campaign.

    With all that noted, Focht has produced a great made in Regina story. Her family is talented in the game too, as older brother Carson has 31 goals and 20 assists in 55 regular season games with the Calgary Hitmen heading into WHL action on Friday.

    It is almost too bad Carson, who turned 20-years-old in February, didn’t play for the WHL’s Regina Pats.

    When the Rebels season wraps up, Lauren Focht will continue her hometown journey in hockey joining the University of Regina Cougars women’s hockey teams in the U Sports ranks. Focht’s addition is a huge addition for the Cougars.

Many more special moments could awaiting Lauren Focht and the Rebels.

    While it is a big jump to play in the U Sports ranks and success is in no way guaranteed, you have to love that the chance is there for the hometown product to do big things with her hometown university team.

    Until then, Focht and the Rebels are well positioned to make a memorable post-season. With the WHL’s Pats still going through a massive rebuild, Focht and her teammates can capture the imagination of the sports scene in “the Queen City” along with the Regina Pat Canadians, who topped the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League standings.

    Some more special hockey memories are just waiting to be made in the Saskatchewan capital.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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