SUBMITTED PHOTO RONDA WILSON Paige Ully (right) works for a shot in the Cora Calgary Classic ringette tournament Open C final against Lethbridge Sunday. Kennedy Wilson (left) and Sara Golby are also pictured from the Medicine Hat team.
For the second year in a row a ringette team from Medicine Hat won cold hard cash instead of a trophy at the Cora Calgary Classic.
But for the first time, a second Gas City team achieved a title win at the major open-level event.
While the Smash defended their title in Open B, the Force got a bit of revenge in the Open C final Sunday.
Having lost to Lethbridge’s Vegas team in the 2019 championship game, Medicine Hat pulled away for a 6-3 win against their rivals and got to pose with a giant cheque for $850.
At Canada Olympic Park, Paige Ully had two goals while Kelsey Logan, Courtney Stock, Amanda Beaudoin and Jenna McDonnell added the others. Martyn Clift was in net.
McDonnell had put Force into the final with an overtime penalty shot goal earlier in the day. Tied 8-8 with Sherwood Park, McDonnell was hauled down on a breakaway with 42 seconds left in the first overtime period and converted the resulting penalty shot.
Force also beat the Calgary Mad Hatters 8-0 (Jordyn Clark getting the shutout), the Calgary Storm 3-1, the Lacombe Kaos 13-5 (Kennedy Wilson’s four goals leading the way) and the Cochrane Chaos 5-2.
Right after Force’s championship win, onto the same ice came Smash.
Like Force, they needed an overtime thriller to reach the final as well. Kailyn Baum’s winner came with 2:14 left in the second OT period, earning an 8-7 semifinal win over Calgary Blaze.
Any thought of a letdown in the final after that crazy finish was unfounded. Smash lived up to its name in a 10-0 win over the Calgary Gladiators, getting two goals each from Baum, Lindsey Hart, Kayty Smith and Paige Schreiber. Nicola Brost and Jessica Berger also scored.
Other weekend results included a 9-3 win over Calgary, a 12-8 win over Edmonton Hornets, a 3-3 tie with Calgary Force and a 9-4 round robin loss to Blaze.
Under-16
Riptide’s under-16 girls were tested early but came away with a win and a tie against the Calgary Bow View Cruz Sunday.
At Hockey Hounds arena, the home team trailed 2-0 early in the opener but wound up with a 9-9 draw. Marin Sinclair had four goals, Raynah Gibney two, then Kylie Kallenberger, Kayla Robinson and Preslee Starner the other three.
A 6-3 win in the second game saw Sinclair score in the opening minute. She wound up with two, Kallenberger with the hat trick and Marley Rose a single. Jena Harty was in net.
Under-14
In Calgary Saturday, the under-14 Mercury fell to the Northwest Force by scores of 7-2 and 9-7.
Jordan Weisgerber and Sophie Kerr scored in the opener. Jordy Provost had a pair in the second game, while Kerr, Kamryn Reid, Jaida Waldegger, Avery Weisgerber and Rylin Lehr had the others.
