SUBMITTED PHOTO BY BRENDAN HILLSON Tia Van Maarion (18) and Breanna Lanuk (11) of Medicine Hat's under-10 Wolfpack tie up the ring against Airdrie forward Channing Perverseff (12) Saturday on home ice.
With their massive home tournament about to begin, several Medicine Hat ringette teams took to the ice for one final set of tuneups.
The Ed Horvath Interprovincial Classic begins Friday at rinks across the city, with 45 teams including 10 host sides in action. No less than seven of the Gas City squads played this past weekend, including two who squared off against each other.
“Medicine Hat Ringette is thrilled to again be hosting the Ed Horvath Interprovincial Classic,” said tournament co-chair Jason Tindall in a press release. “It is a great opportunity to watch our athletes develop their skills and showcase their ringette talents.”
While they will play in separate divisions, the Open B Smash and under-19 Mighty Ducks used Sunday’s exhibition game to ensure there’s no rust ahead of the Horvath opening night.
Smash, the more experienced side, took a 9-3 win led by Nicona Brost’s hat trick. Kayty Smith scored 12 seconds in, while Michelle Plante, Mahala Boychuk, Ashley Bohonos, Camryn Selwood and Paige Schreiber rounded out the Smash’s offence. No information was reported about the Ducks’ goals.
The Ducks play twice Friday, noon and 4:30 p.m. at Hockey Hounds as part of a three-team double round robin.
Smash hosts the Regina Wildcats in a late 9:30 p.m. Friday game at the Family Leisure Centre. Medicine Hat Force is also in the Open B division.
Under-16
There will be two under-16 divisions at the Horvath involving five teams each. In under-16 B the host Matrix will be ready on the heels of two narrow league wins.
In Calgary Sunday, Medicine Hat beat Northwest Kryptonite 8-7, then Bowview Lethal 3-2.
Against Kryptonite, Matrix had six goals on the board before the intermission and held on thanks to some solid goaltending from Leah Mason.
Serina Grona, Jaelyn Siewert, Leah Jetter, Trinity Wikjord, Sidney Williams and Charlie Christie all had goals but it wasn’t reported which players had more than one.
A much more physical game against Lethal saw Siewert, Christie and Callie Johnson score and keep the team’s momentum heading into their home tournament.
Matrix opens with two games Friday in a pool that includes Kryptonite.
In under-16 A it’ll be Medicine Hat Riptide playing twice at the FLC Friday to open its weekend.
Under-14
The under-14 Maximum split a pair of league games with Calgary’s Bowview Warriors Sunday.
A 4-3 win featured two goals from Grace Ammann. The Warriors claimed a 4-3 decision in the second half of the doubleheader, despite Hat goals from Ammann, Kasey Martin and under-10 callup Ryleigh Jackiw.
They’ll play a Regina team to open the Horvath on Friday, then a different Bowview side to end the day. As for Medicine Hat’s under-14 A team, Mercury, they enter the home tournament having lost two games in Calgary this past weekend.
An 8-1 loss to the South Calgary Sirens saw Kamryn Reid scored the lone Hat goal. Reid, Hannah Thompson, Sophie Kerr and Jordy Provost scored in an 8-5 rematch loss as well.
Mercury will play in a four-team division this weekend.
Under-12
Medicine Hat Blackout will be glad the Rockyford Ringers aren’t in their five-team division on home ice this weekend.
Rockyford swept a doubleheader this past Saturday with wins of 8-1 and 12-4.
Leighton Wright scored in the first game, then twice in the second while Ryley Jackiw and Ravyn Lehr had the other tallies for Blackout.
Under-10
While their tournament schedule won’t include any medal games but instead a handful of exhibition contests, the under-10 Wolfpack got ready with a couple home games against Airdrie’s Blue Sharks Saturday.
Wolfpack won the opener 8-4, getting two goals each from Breanna Lanuk and Sloane Berstad.
Airdrie’s goalie stole the show in the other match, a 6-0 shutout win for the visitors.
