Jordy Provost of the U16 Medicine Hat Matrix breaks into the Pembroke Pursuit end in the first half of a 7-6 Medicine Hat loss in the gold medal game of the locally held provincial tournament at the Kinplex on Sunday.--NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat U16 Matrix pushed until the very end in the gold-medal final in the locally held provincial ringette tournament this weekend.
The Matrix were undefeated in the tournament heading into the finals against the Pembroke Pursuit, who ultimately beat Medicine Hat 7-6 at the Kinplex.
“It’s a tough loss but we’re still proud of these girls,” Matrix head coach Donnel Provost said after the finals loss. “They battled through because we went down 2-0 early in the game, we battled back and forth. The girls never gave up, they kept driving but unfortunately, it just didn’t end in our favour.”
Jordy Provost had two goals and two assists in the finals with Mackenzie Tindall, Ericka Want, Grace Ammann and Bella Heinrichs each finding the back of the next. Karly Stennick had two helpers as well.
The Matrix earned their spot in the finals by beating the Calgary NW Exile 7-4 in their semifinals matchup Sunday morning. Tindall led the way with three goals and Ryleigh Jackiw added two of her own in the win. Provost and Ammann each had a goal against Calgary with Want and Kasey Martin each notching two assists.
Kyree Stern-Rebmann stood tall between the pipes throughout the provincial tournament.
The Matrix entered provincials with three tournament wins on the season, including capturing the Ed Horvath championship in December. They finished their season with only three losses, Sunday’s included. Provost says they spoke with the girls about the season, reminding them of their accomplishments.
“We finished the season only having three losses all year and we excelled right from the beginning,” Provost said. “We carried that momentum through and I couldn’t be more proud of these girls. They’ve learned so much from from each other and I learned lots from them myself as a coach, just a really good season.
“These girls got bronze last year and now we have silver. We just keep building blocks and we’ll use this as a building block for next year. And hopefully next year, we can finish off with the championship.”
He was beyond pleased with how the provincial tournament came together and tips his cap to all involved.
“I can’t be more proud with our tournament committee, Provincial Committee, they put on an excellent weekend,” Provost said. “I’ve got nothing but compliments from every team on how well provincial was ran. We threw a great party on Friday night, probably the best that most of these teams have ever seen. So very proud of all that work and effort that was put in from the association and committee.”
