NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Ava Allchurch of the Medicine Hat U19B Mustangs loads up the backhand for a breakaway shot in the second half of a 10-1, opening win Friday over the Bow View Apex at the Ed Horvath tournament.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Rings dropped and banners are ready to be hung, as the largest tournament in the city kickstarted Friday.
The Medicine Hat Ringette Association’s Ed Horvath Invitational tournament got underway Friday, with 40 teams from Alberta and Saskatchewan taking part in the three-day, 93-game tournament spread out at the Moose Rec Centre, Kinplex and Big Marble Go Centre.
All Medicine Hat Mustangs teams came into the weekend looking to defend home ice, with two squads, the U19 and U14 Mustangs, vying to defend 2023 Ed Horvath championships.
The U19 Mustangs, looking for a third championship in a row, opened the tournament with a commanding 10-1 win over the Bow View Apex at the Moose.
Hannah Thompson had five assists, Ava Allchurch with a hat trick and Erika Want had two goals and two assists. The offence continued with Kasey Martin scoring a goal with three assists, Pacie Harper had two goals with a helper, Mackenzie Tindall had a goal and two assists and Grace Ammann scored as well. Kyree Stern-Rebmann was in net for the win (save statistics not recorded).
“It’s always good when we can win the first game of the tournament,” head coach Rod Thompson said. “It’s an honour to play in your home rink and in front of your family and your friends so it’s important that we get a win, a very convincing win, because it gives the girls that confidence that they need and it allows us to take the momentum into game two.”
The U19 Mustangs faced the Buffalo Plains Wild later Friday in a game not complete by press time. They finish round-robin play with a pair of games Saturday, facing the Buffalo Plains Blitz at 5 p.m. and the Regina Ravens at 8 p.m., both games at the Moose.
Thompson says they returned around half the roster from last year’s tournament-winning team. They also have players who have won provincial championships, all willing to share the experience required to win tournaments.
“That experience is critical when we’re playing in our home tournament, and it really rubs off on the rest of the girls,” Thompson said. “They embrace that and it helps create that winning culture.”
The U16B Mustangs opened their tournament with a back-and-forth 6-4 loss to the Bow View Brisk. Leighton Wright scored three times for the Mustangs, Ravyn Lehr had two helpers and Jayna Allchurch had a solo marker. Emma Pinnell made 19 saves for the win.
U16B head coach John Karamanos says the resiliency showed in the loss, and not retreating while trailing is encouraging as the tournament gets underway.
“They played really well, now they have some momentum, let’s just keep working, keep working and then see if we can get a couple wins,” Karamanos said.
The U16B Mustangs lost 6-4 to the Regina Rage later in the afternoon. They’ll face the Buffalo Plains Outlaws Saturday at 12:30 p.m. (Moose Rec.) and the Regina Havoc at 5:45 p.m. (BMGC) to finish the round robin.
The U14B Mustangs lost their first game of the weekend, falling 7-5 to the Lethbridge Rattlers. Breanna Lanuk scored three goals with an assist. They faced the South Calgary Panthers in the afternoon, winning 7-6. Lacey Gibney notched four goals and two assists, Brea Butterfield had tow goals with an assist and Etienne found twine.
The U14 Mustangs finish their round robin Saturday, facing the Strathmore Ice at 8:15 a.m. (Kinplex) and the Regina Riot at 3:45 p.m. (Moose).
The U12B Mustangs won both their opening games, beating the Bow View Cowgirls 7-5 and the Regina Badgers 12-2.
Brinley Cross had three goals and an assist in the first win, both Arika McDowall and Jorja Sadler had a goal and an assist. In their blowout victory, Sadler led the offence with three goals and an assist. Cross had two goals with a helper and all three of McDowell, Katie Vis and Evangeline Robins had two goals.
The U12 Mustangs face the Regina Cougars at 9:30 a.m. Saturday (Kinplex) to finish their round robin.
The Ed Horvath Invitational wraps up midday Sunday with the gold-medal games at the Moose Rec Centre and the Kinplex.
The U19 gold-medal game is at 3:30 p.m and the U16 championship is at 1:45 p.m, both at the Moose.
U14 settles first-place medals at 2:30 p.m. at the Kinplex. The U12 final is at 1 p.m. at the Kinplex.
Stay tuned with the News for updates on the Medicine Hat teams and their chase to win the hardware on home ice.
All three of Medicine Hat’s U10 teams finish their tournament up Saturday afternoon.
The Step 3 Mustangs play at 10:45 a.m. against the Regina Lynx and 2:30 p.m. against the Calgary Rage, both at the Kinplex.
The Step 2 Mustangs play at 9:30 a.m. against the Airdrie Lil Stingers (BMGC).
The Step 1 Mustangs finish their tournament at 9:45 a.m. against the Airdrie Stingers (Moose).
