Second for Mission
Overtime determined the fate of the St. Albert Mission in Sunday’s U14AA final at the 32nd annual Golden Ring in Calgary.The Zone 2 Blaze scored with 29 seconds left in sudden death after the Mission rallied from a two-goal deficit at the break to knot it at two.
The Mission outshot the Blaze 5-1 in overtime and 36-13 overall.
The 3-2 result marked the third time in five tournaments the Mission finished second overall in four finals.
The winners of the Bernadette Price Memorial in Saskatoon started the Gold Ring with a 5-5 tie against Calgary Blue, followed by wins of 5-2 against the LMRL Thunder, 3-0 against Calgary White, 9-3 against Buffalo Plains Rush in the quarter-finals and 5-0 against Calgary Red in the semifinals.
The U14AA division consisted of eight teams.
The Mission are 26-6-3 with upcoming games scheduled Saturday against the Spruce Grove Storm at 12:15 p.m. at Stu Barnes Arena, Sunday against the Central Alberta Sting at 3:15 p.m. at Kinsmen Twin Arenas and Feb. 3 against the Edmonton Elite at 11 a.m. at Go Auto Arena.
A few exhibitions are also on tap before the Feb. 23 to 25 provincials in Edmonton to determine the Ringette Alberta reps at the U14AA westerns in March at Saskatoon.
Golden Ring results
The following St. Albert Ringette Association teams joined the U14AA Mission at the Golden Ring tournament.U12A Storm: 1-2 in pool play in the 12-team division.
U14B Thunder: 0-2-1 in pool play in the 16-team division.
U16AA Mission: 0-4 in pool play in the 12-team division.
U16A Delta: 1-3 overall in the 12-team division.
U19A Siege: 3-1 overall in the 12-team division. The lone loss was 4-3 against Rockyford Big in the quarter-finals.
The U10S1 Lightning also competed in the friendship series portion of the tournament.
The Golden Ring featured 187 teams in 15 divisions.
U19AA Mission
The U19AA St. Albert Mission have one game remaining before the 31st annual RHRA Invitational Tournament next month in Richmond Hill, Ont.Sunday the Mission plays the open A Edmonton Last Call at 6:45 p.m. at Servus Credit Union Place.
The Mission are 8-14-1 overall after Saturday’s 5-4 loss to the University Ringette Club open A team.
The fourth tournament of the season for the Mission starts Feb. 2 with games against Rive Sud, London, Richmond Hill and Mississauga in pool play in the eight-team draw.
Also upcoming for the Mission are provincials Feb. 23 to 25 in Edmonton for qualification for nationals in April at Winnipeg.
Meanwhile, Mission coach Heather Konkin has been appointed the head coach of Team Alberta for the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer.
Konkin served as an assistant coach for Team Alberta at the 2015 Canada Winter Games and was head coach of the gold-medal winning Zone 5 team at the 2016 Alberta Winter Games.
