By Darren Bayrack /
The St. Albert Slash made the most of their inaugural visit to the Mac’s AAA Midget Hockey Tournament in Calgary.
They capped a terrific week by defeating the favoured Calgary Flyers 6-2 in the championship final New Year’s Day at the Pengrowth Saddledome.
“It means so much,” Slash captain Melissa Kueber told Shaw TV. “We are the underdogs and now having this, it just keeps getting better from here. I think we will take a lot of confidence from this.”
No Calgary female team has won the Mac’s since the division was added six years ago. The Flyers looked to have the edge going into the final with a 17-3-3 record this season in the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League.
By comparison, St. Albert compiled a 10-7-6 record in the North Division of the AMMFHL.
The Slash took a 1-0 lead in the first period when 13-year-old Karly Heffernan jumped on a loose puck in the crease and slid it under Flyer goalie Kiera Olson, who was named best female goaltender at the Mac’s.
St. Albert kept up the pressure and built a 4-0 lead early in the second period thanks to goals by Kueber, Krystal Reithmayer and tournament MVP Jessica Kampjes.
Chelsea Minor put Calgary on the board at 3:34 of the second when she scooped up a loose puck in the neutral zone and raced in on a shorthanded breakaway. Her shot just beat Slash goalie Tyler Lisitza who made 35 saves on the day to earn the victory.
Down 4-1 after two periods, the Flyers could only muster a single goal from Sadie Lenstra in the final frame. St. Albert sealed the championship with goals from Taryn McCormick and Kampjes into an empty net.
As the Enmax Energy Board ticked to 0:00 the Slash players stormed off the bench to celebrate becoming the first Alberta female team to win the Mac’s Midget Tournament.
“Just to be part of the tournament ‚Äì the experience. It’s a real grind, there are a lot of good teams but to see the girls do this it’s incredible,” said St. Albert head coach Terry Sydor. “I’m pretty excited.”
The Calgary Flyers haven’t lost any momentum since their New Year’s Day setback at the Mac’s, the team has gone undefeated in league play with a 2-0-3 record. The Slash have struggled in the New Year with a 1-2-1 record in regular-season action.
Mac’s tourney notes
- Although the Edmonton Thunder lost 5-2 to the St. Albert Slash in the semifinals, the team was honoured with two tournament awards. Dan Auchenberg was named Outstanding Coach, while Riana Magee was picked as the Best Defenceman at the Mac’s.
- Karlee Odland of the Medicine Hat Hounds leads the AMMFHL in scoring with 42 points and was named to the Mac’s Tournament first all-star team.
- Players named to the Mac’s second all-star team included Morgan Glover and Elizabeth Hillier of the Edmonton Thunder, Hanna Mousek of the Red Deer Chiefs, Melissa Kueber of the St. Albert Slash and Shawna Griffin of the Calgary Flyers.
- The Calgary Bruins were named as the Most Sportsmanlike Team of the tourney. |
