BREAKING THE ICE : Women No Longer on the Brink of O.C. Rinks

Shirley Sumner was the only woman playing in a pickup ice hockey game Monday, but it was no big deal. Sumner, an Irvine police officer, had broken gender barriers before.

And she wasn’t alone. Rachel Tilton, said to be one of the best female amateur ice hockey players in Orange County, was timekeeper at the Aliso Viejo Ice Palace on Sunday as she cheered for Sumner, who was playing goalie and giving as well as she got from the men trying to shoot the puck into the net behind her.

Today’s match between the U.S. and Canadian women’s hockey teams for the Olympic gold medal--the first time women have gone for the gold in hockey--will showcase the best and toughest female players in the world and focus attention on the sport’s growing popularity among female athletes.

At ice rinks across Orange County, female hockey players are not the anomaly they were just a few years ago, when they were subjected to stares and taunts from male players and fans. But both Sumner, 32, and Tilton, 20, are quick to point out that there are still some men who do not like to share the ice with them.

“You do come across some guys who still think that it’s a guy’s sport only,” said Tilton, who, like Sumner, plays in a coed league. “They try to push you around. I give it right back to them. But I’ve got to say that most of the guys I play with are supportive.”

Tilton, a Mission Viejo resident and Trabuco Hills High School graduate who is also a right winger for the all-women Southern California Rays, has been playing hockey for four years. She also played for Team California, another women’s team. Called “Roach” by some teammates, Tilton said she enjoys her role as “enforcer” on her women’s team.

“I like to dig in the corner and try to set up plays,” Tilton said. “Because of my build, the coach throws me in front of the net for tip ins or rebounds, because there aren’t many girls who can move me.”

Two weeks ago, the Rays won a tournament in Las Vegas, beating an Alaska team for the championship. Tilton described the Alaska club as “tough girls” who played, well, like hockey players.

“We were knocking heads pretty good. One of their girls cross-checked one of ours from behind, but the referee didn’t see it,” Tilton said. “My coach called me over and said, ‘If you see her do it again, take her out.’ That was a job for ‘the enforcer.’ ”

Tilton said trash talking and foul language are commonplace on the ice.

“It gets pretty intense,” she said. “I’ve been called things that you can’t put in a newspaper. . . . My boyfriend, who also plays hockey, calls me a brute because he thinks I’m rougher than the guys.”

Sumner, who’s been a K-9 officer and Irvine policewoman for more than 10 years, sat in the box next to Tilton, waiting for her turn in front of the net Sunday. The two women, separated by a plastic pane, were talking excitedly about today’s women’s Olympic hockey game.

“I’ve got my VCR set to record it,” Sumner said. “I’m not going to miss it.”

Sumner has been playing ice hockey for less than six months and made the transition to the sport from roller hockey. A Huntington Beach native and Ocean View High School graduate, Sumner also played goalie for the men’s varsity water polo team in high school.

“Goalie is kind of an ego position. Every time you stop a shot, it’s like you won,” Sumner said. “But whenever your team loses, you feel like it’s your fault.”

Both women are traveling to Toronto in April to play in a tournament.

“I’m seriously thinking of moving to Canada,” Tilton said. “Part of the reason is because my boyfriend is from Manitoba, but I’d like to try playing hockey up there. . . . A lot of guys give me a lot of encouragement and tell me I’m good enough to play at a higher level.”

She laughed when someone asked her if she knows any female hockey players with missing teeth.

“Missing nails, yes, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen any women players with missing teeth. Most women play with cages on their masks,” she said. “I can’t have long nails. They get caught in the glove and bent back. I try to chew mine off before every game.”