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Medicine Hat's U19 Chicken Hawks ringette team clinched gold at the Esso Golden Ring tournament in Calgary over the weekend.
Medicine Hat’s U19 Chicken Hawks ringette team took home the gold at the Esso Golden Ring tournament in Calgary over the weekend, winning six straight games en route to the final.
The Esso Golden Ring features 200 teams across 18 age groups, including the 12-team U19 group.
The Chicken Hawks opened the weekend with a 5-0 win over Calgary NW Strike on Friday, then followed it up with a 9-2 victory over the Cochrane Rockies that evening.
Medicine Hat took another commanding win Saturday morning, this time 8-1 over the Calgary Bow View Rush, before winning a close 7-5 battle over the Buffalo Plains Blitz to secure a spot in Sunday morning’s semifinal.
The Chicken Hawks met the Calgary NW Aces in the semis and rallied to an 8-5 victory.
Medicine Hat was faced with a strong challenge from the South Calgary Berzerk in the final, but turned a 5-4 lead at the break into a 9-5 gold-medal win.
Rheagyn Heinrichs spent the tournament between the pipes for Medicine Hat.
U16
Medicine Hat’s U16 Matrix ringette team won both ends of a doubleheader against the Airdrie Smash on home ice Saturday, 8-0 and 6-2.
Kyree Stern picked up her second shutout of the season in the opening win, backed by two-goal performances from Erika Want, MacKenzie Tindall and Jordy Provost. Kasey Martin and Grace Ammann rounded out the scoring and added an assist, while Ava Allchurch finished the game with three helpers, and Ella Seale and Alexis Unreiner each had two.
Allchurch added another three assists in the second victory, while Martin had two goals, and Tindall, Seale, Want and Provost added individual tallies.
The Matrix will head to Calgary on Jan. 29 to face off against the South Calgary Adrenaline and Bow View Titans.
U12
The Medicine Hat U12 Phoenix ringette team dropped a pair of games on the road against Lethbridge on Sunday, 10-5 and 12-9.
Lacey Gibney led the scoring with two goals in the first game, while Brea Butterfield, Breanna Lanuk and Ally Martin added individual tallies.
Gibney and Kassidy Etienne both added hat tricks in the second game, while Lanuk netted a pair and Butterfield rounded out the scoring.
Jacqueline LeBlanc put forth a strong goaltending performance in the opening game, while Sophia Smith made some big saves in the second loss.
