SUBMITTED PHOTO CAROLE HILLSON Medicine Hat's Grace Ammann scores against Airdrie during an under-14 ringette game in Bassano Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019.
Medicine Hat teams earned a pair of playoff appearances at the Regina Elite Tournament this past weekend.
The under-19 Mighty Ducks came in second in their division, while the open A Smash took fourth in theirs.
For the Ducks, a busy two days saw them play six times, culminating in Sunday’s 8-6 loss to the Eastman Heat out of Saskatchewan.
Despite leading 3-1 early in the first period, the back-and-forth game came down to the last few minutes. Penalties – five of them in the second period alone – didn’t help the Hat side, as Eastman scored the final two goals to earn gold.
Lauren Klick had the Ducks’ first and last goals of the game, tallying three in total. Maggie Carrier, Amanda Robinson and Bree Becker had the other Hat goals.
Medicine Hat went 2-1 in the round robin with wins over Winnipeg’s Jets (10-2), Winnipeg Blaze (9-3) and a 5-1 loss to Kelowna’s Heat. They beat Regina Ript 4-1 and South Calgary Sisu 5-3 in the playoffs to advance to the final.
Open B
Though an open B team, Medicine Hat Smash competed up a level in open A at Regina and showed they can certainly hold their own there, too.
Wins of 10-7 (over Regina’s Jetts) and 9-5 (over Saskatoon Stealth) in the round robin were countered by an 11-3 loss to Buffalo Plains and a 14-1 loss to the University of Manitoba. A rematch with Buffalo Plains in the semifinals resulted in a 7-3 loss, then they got another chance at the Jetts but lost 9-5 in the bronze medal game.
“This weekend was a great experience for Smash playing at a higher level,” noted coach Merv Boychuk in a press release, adding that injuries took their toll by the end of the weekend.
Under-16
At Calgary, the under-16 B Matrix wound up with a third-place finish at the Northwest Rumble Tournament.
They beat the Bowview Blazers 4-2 Sunday, getting goals from Jaelyn Siewert, Callie Johnson, Serina Grona and Ryan Sweet. Rheagyn Heinrichs was solid in goal and hard work was the team motto as they went 2-1-1 on the weekend.
The weekend began with a 3-1 win over Northwest Nitro, then they tied St. Albert Excel 3-3. A 4-1 loss to Northwest Armada was all that kept them from the gold medal game.
Also Sunday, the under-16 A Riptide hosted the AC Thunder for a pair of games. After a 9-7 loss they earned a 9-8 win to split the doubleheader.
Marin Sinclair, Sydney Anderson and Kylie Kallenberger each had two goals in the win, while Dimitria Karamanos, Joren Gramlich and Jaida Wallis had one apiece. Jena Harty was in net for both games.
Under-14
Meeting in Bassano Saturday for a neutral site doubleheader, Medicine Hat’s under-14 Maximum dropped a pair of 3-2 decisions to Airdrie’s Sting.
Eva Chartrand had both Hat goals in the opening game, while Madeleine Hillson and Grace Ammann scored in the second.
Airdrie never trailed but Medicine Hat sure made it interesting, with goalie Kyree Stern-Rebmann standing tall in the Maximum net.
