Provincial soccer

The Alberta Soccer Association's U12 Tier I boys and girls and U16 Tier II boys provincial championships kick off Friday in St. Albert.

The three tournament draws consist of eight teams, including the host St. Albert Impact. The format is two groups of four with crossover and medal finals.

Twelve matches will be played Friday, 24 on Saturday and 12 on Sunday at the Riel Recreation Park turf field and the Eldorado, Erin Ridge, Hodgson and Salisbury fields. The tournament headquarters is Eldorado field.

Sunday's gold-medal matches start at 9:30 a.m. in U12 girls and 11 a.m. in U12 boys and U16 boys at Eldorado field.

Visit www.albertasoccer.com for schedules and results.

Cardinals vs. Eagles

Tonight at 6:45 p.m. the St. Albert Senior Cardinals host the Spruce Grove Eagles in the Alberta West Central Baseball Association playoffs at Legion Memorial Park.

Game two in the best-of-three semifinal is Monday at 6:45 p.m. at Henry Singer fields.

Game three, if needed, is Aug. 22 at 6:45 p.m. at Legion park.

In league play the second-place Cardinals (12-3) posted victories of 10-3 and 6-5 against the third-place Eagles (9-6).

The winner will challenge the first-place Westlock Red Lions (14-3) or the fourth-place Fort Saskatchewan Red Sox (7-7) for the playoff crown.

Rugby matches

Friday at 7 p.m. St. Albert tackles the Lep/Tigers in third division men's rugby at the Wild Rose Elementary School field.

The thirds (5-3) are battling the Riggers (5-2) and Leduc Crude (5-5) for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Edmonton Rugby Union. The Lep/Tigers (3-6) are ranked seventh in the 12-team table.

The thirds are coming off an impressive 27-18 victory over the third-place Nor'Westers (7-3) last weekend at the Nor'Westers Rugby Club.

Saturday the firsts and seconds scrum down at Ellerslie Rugby Park.

The firsts (5-5) and the Strathcona Druids (4-6) clash at 12:30 p.m. in the Alberta Cup fixtures.

The firsts lost two in a row by scores of 33-25 to the Calgary Hornets (9-0), the 2011 provincial champions, and 29-25 to the Calgary Canucks.

The firsts and the Clansmen (6-4) are duking it out for second place and a bye in the north final.

At 4 p.m. the seconds (3-9) hook up with the first-place Grande Prairie Centaurs (10-3) in the ERU fixtures. Last month the Centaurs out-scored the seconds 63-51 in Grande Prairie.

The seconds, winless in four matches, are in a dogfight with the Druids (4-8-1) to finish eighth overall in the nine-team table.

Last year the seconds lost the ERU semifinal to the Leduc Crude after falling to Leduc in the 2010 final.

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