A lop-sided loss opened play in the Mac's Midget AAA Tournament for the Diamond Energy Female Midget AAA Wildcats.

The Wildcats lost 7-1 Tuesday evening to the Rocky Mountain Raiders after falling behind 5-0 heading into the first intermission.

"The disappointing thing for us was our effort level and our compete level was nowhere near where it needed to be," said Wildcats head coach Terry Pavely. "When one team is a good team, works hard, and plays tough, and one team went through the motions... we were in a world of hurt in that first period. When it's 5-0, I mean the writing's probably on the wall."

The Wildcats did bear down defensively in the remaining two periods, especially a third period that saw Carissa Hogan score Swift's lone goal in the game while holding the Raiders scoreless in the final 20.

However, with the six-goal deficit in the loss, Pavely says it's time to regroup and bounce back in game two.

"We're going to put it in the hands of our kids. At the end of the day, we're going to hope that we've got a little bit of pride in the jersey and a little bit of pride in the fact that we're a good program and we're a team that's really made strides, and challenge them to respond."

"It is what it is, it's one loss - you lose 3-1 or 7-1, it's still an L in the column. We've got to find a way to be better, and I think that's on our leaders and our group as a whole to be better," he said.

Rebounding after a loss is a trend the Wildcats are accustomed quite recently. Swift came back from a 4-3 overtime loss to the Saskatoon Stars on December 16, winning 6-1 the next afternoon to end their league-play schedule for 2017.

"That's the one thing we've found about our group - they work hard," Pavely said. "We let one slip away from Saskatoon, and in the last game before the break we came out, we played a really strong game after losing one late. I expect the exact same thing tomorrow - I think we're going to be really good."

The Wildcats look to rebound against the Vancouver Island Seals at the Calgary-based tournament with puck drop set for 4 p.m. Saskatchewan time.