NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Kassidy Etienne of the Medicine Hat U14B Mustangs admires her shot in the first half of the Mustangs' 7-4 win Friday over Regina to open the Ed Horvath Invitational tournament.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The largest tournament in the city got underway Friday, the first of three days of ringette action.
The Medicine Hat Ringette Association’s Ed Horvath Invitational tournament kicked off Friday with 38 teams from Alberta and Saskatchewan facing off in the three-day, 94-game tournament being played out across the city at the Big Marble Go Centre, Kinplex and Moose Rec Centre.
All eight of the Medicine Hat teams, six Mustangs and two Open division teams look to defence home ice with the U19B Mustangs vying to win a fourth-straight title.
The U19 Mustangs opened their tournament defence with a 9-3 victory Friday over Calgary North West. Leighton Wright had two goals and five points, Ryleigh Jackiw and Aviana Velichko each had a pair of goals and an assist. Ava Allchurch had a goal and an assist, Jayna Allchurch and Kasey Martin each scored, Ravyn Lehr had two helpers.
The Mustangs faced Saskatoon later Friday, winning 7-1. Ava Allchurch had two goals and two assists, both Martin and Wright scored twice and Jayna Allchurch had a solo tally.
They finish the round robin Saturday at noon against Regina at the Moose Rec Centre.
The U16 Mustangs also opened their tournament with a win, beating Bow View 2 7-4 with just eight skaters. Breanna Lanuk scored twice, adding two assists and Lacey Gibney added a goal and three assists. Onyka Funk had a hat trick and Margot Kerr had a goal and an assist.
U16 head coach Loralee Eastland says they navigated the added challenge of playing at the Big Marble Go Centre and its olympic-sized ice as well as they handled playing with a short lineup.
“What we found coming off a gold medal win in Lethbridge with only seven skaters, our girls conditioning is getting there but truly their chemistry on the ice is the best,” Eastland said. “When you’re running with a team with 14 or 15 skaters, sometimes that chemistry isn’t not happening. With our girls, most of them are out there every second shift together, they’re working really hard in practice to solidify knowing where everyone needs to be at any given time.”
The U16 Mustangs faced Lethbridge Friday night in a game that was not complete by press time. They wrap their round robin play up Saturday morning against Regina in an 8:30 a.m. game at the Big Marble Go Centre.
Eastland says the tournament win in Lethbridge gave them confidence coming into the home tournament where they’ll continue to rely on another as they look to raise an Ed Horvath banner at the end of the weekend.
“The girls know they have no choice but to trust each other and really get to know each other again, building on their skills, knowing that anyone can jump into any position, we focused on that a lot this year,’ Eastland said. “It’s not just going to be a centre and a forward or defense, you’re going to play all positions and that’s been really good, too.”
The U14 Mustangs opened their tournament with a 7-4 win Friday morning over Regina 1. Kassidy Etienne had six of the Medicine Hat goals, Brinley Cross adding a solo marker. Myah Weber and Arika McDowall each had three assists.
Head coach Jack Forsyth says they’ve had a tough start to their year and clicked to start the tournament. He hopes they can make good on the home tournament and keep pushing.
“They obviously look forward to this every year, it’s nice to not be on the road for once,” Forsyth said. “We do a lot of traveling, so getting to play a handful of games at home is great for the girls.
“We’re trying to keep our foot on the gas and just try to play as hard as we can.”
The Mustangs faced Calgary North West 1 Friday afternoon, winning 7-6. Etienne scored four times, McDowall had two goals and Jorja Sadler had a goal. Cross tallied four assists.
The U14s wrap up their round robin on Saturday with a noon game at the Kinplex against Regina 2.
The U12A Mustangs lost their first game of the weekend, falling 9-1 to Bow View 2 at the Moose. Avery Fuller scored the lone Medicine Hat goal. They faced Calgary South 1 later in the day, losing 13-1. Zoe Aarden scored the lone goal for Medicine Hat.
The U12A Mustangs finish the round robin Saturday with a pair of games, taking on Calgary South 2 at the Kinplex (8:30 a.m.) before facing Calgary NW 1 at 1:15 p.m. at the Kinplex.
The U12B Mustangs dropped their first game, falling 13-2 to Indus 1 Friday morning at the Kinplex. Jayla-Ray Klaudt scored both Mustangs’ goals. They faced Buffalo Plains later in the day, falling 10-8. Klaudt had four goals and each of Addison Staheli, Maizee Trotte and Hailee Kopeck scored.
The U12B Mustangs wrap up their round robin on Saturday, facing Regina at 9:30 a.m. at the Moose Rec Centre before facing Bow View 2 at 2:30 p.m. at the Kinplex.
Medicine Hat’s U10 Step 3 Mustangs had two round robin games Friday, falling 6-3 to Indus and 6-3 to Lethbridge. In the first game, Everley Cross had tow goals and Brielle St. Laurent had a solo tally, Laila Loehndorf had two assists. Against Lethbridge, Adelynn McKinley had a goal and an assist and both Gabriella O’Reilly and Cross scored.
The Step 3 Mustangs have two round robin games Saturday, facing Calgary NW2 at 9:30 a.m. before facing Airdrie 1 at 3:45 p.m., both games at the Kinplex.
The Ed Horvath Invitational wraps up midday Sunday with the gold-medal games.
The U10 gold medal winners are decided at 12:30 p.m. at the Kinplex.
The U12A gold-medal game is at 3 p.m. at the Kinplex and the U12B gold-medal decider is at 1:45 p.m. at the Kinplex.
The U14B gold-medal game is at 1 p.m. at the Moose Rec Centre and the U16 gold medalists are decided at 2:30 p.m., also at the Moose. The U19 gold-medal game is at 4:15 p.m. at the Moose.
