NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Mackenzie Tindall of the Medicine Hat U16 Matrix ringette team admires her goal in the Matrix's 5-1 win Friday afternoon against the Strathmore Ice Flares at the Hockey Hounds arena.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat U16 Matrix ringette team defended home ice Friday, the first day of the locally held provincials.
The Matrix opened the tournament with a 4-0 win over the Pembina Pursuit before beating Strathmore Ice Flares 5-1. Head coach Donnel Provost says the two opening wins is motivation for his team heading into Saturday and the playoff rounds and also helps ease the nerves of playing the high-pressured games at home.
“We’re just gonna keep reminding the girls that every game is going to be a new game,” Provost said. “There’s a lot of great teams that dominate this weekend and they all want a piece of that gold medal. So we’ll have to bring it every game and keep firing, but absolutely, these first two are going to be great motivation.”
MacKenzie Tindall had two goals and an assist in the opening victory. Grace Ammann added a goal and an assist and Ryleigh Jackiw had a goal of her own as well. Kyle Stern-Rebmann turned aside all 32 shots she faced in net.
The Matrix kept up the scoring in their second game, with Ammann leading the way, piling up a goal and two assists. Tindall added a goal and an assist and Jackiw, Kasey Martin and Jordy Provost each added a goal each. Erika Want had two helpers and Stern-Rebmann was between the pipes in the win.
Provost says their team efforts have led them all year and will continue to play a big part in the provincial tournament.
“It’s all 15 girls and we have a fabulous goalie, probably the best one in the league,” Provost said. “But the other 14 girls really rally behind her, support her and keep moving forward.”
The Matrix’s last round-robin game of the tournament gets underway Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at the Kinplex against the Fort Saskatchewan Ice. After that, they will have a playoff game Saturday afternoon and then Sunday morning.
The bronze-medal game is set for 12:45 p.m. on Sunday with the gold-medal game at 1 p.m. Provost says their approach will be about focusing on the game at hand before worrying about the next one.
“We try to make sure that we take it one game at a time and every game is a new game for us,” Provost said. “We don’t introduce anything new and we try to get the girls to stick to their game plan and we play our game.
“That’s how we are going to be successful.”
