NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Mark Fisher of the Medicine Hat Smash Open ringette team scans the ice in front of him as he plays the ring in the Smash's 5-3 win Saturday morning over the Avalanche. The Smash hosted and took first place in the locally held provincial tournament this weekend.
Medicine Hat Smash Open B ringette hosted the provincial championship this past weekend and brought home the gold.
Eight teams participated in the weekend tournament, four from Calgary, two from St. Albert, one from Sherwood Park and the Smash.
Round-robin play ended Saturday night, with a tiebreaker mini-game to decide which teams moved on to the semifinals.
The Smash started play with a 6-7 OT loss to Calgary FSU. Their next game was a 5-3 win over Calgary Avalanche, followed by a 7-2 win over the St. Albert Stealth.
The Smash finished second in their pool, a good enough record to advance to crossover play. In the semifinal Sunday morning, the Smash defeated Calgary Blaze 8-4, sending them to the gold final against Calgary FSU.
The Smash jumped out to a 5-0 lead and held on for a 6-4 win for the provincial championship. The win gave the Smash two consecutive Open B provincial championship wins.
U19
The U19 B Mavens travelled to Strathmore on Saturday and lost their fourth provincial playdown game, 4-1 against the Calgary Northwest Odyssey.
The Mavens had a chance to secure a provincial berth on Saturday with a win but they came up just short. Their lone goal in the loss was scored by Serina Grona.
The team decided to stand with Ukraine and wore yellow and blue ribbons in their hair and taped their sticks with blue and yellow ‘flags.’
The Mavens have one final chance to earn a place at provincials with a crossover game this weekend.
The Mavens will be in Strathmore again this weekend, looking to keep their season alive in an an afternoon contest against the Calgary Bowview Vipers.
