The host team for the Final Five Provincial Championship in the Alberta Major Bantam Female Hockey League was shutout three times in four losses at Servus Credit Union Place.
The St. Albert Lady Raiders finished 0-4 while allowing 20 goals against after Saturday’s 3-0 setback to the Edmonton Lightning.
The Raiders also lost 8-0 to the Rocky Mountain Raiders, 4-3 in a shootout to the Sherwood Park Royals and 5-0 to the Calgary Rangers.
Bria Fewchuk tallied in regulation time and Andrea Gauchier and Aidan Soltis scored in the shootout against the Royals.
The Lightning repeated as provincial champions in Sunday's 3-2 overtime decision against Rocky Mountain.
The Lightning (20-6-4), Royals (19-6-5) and Raiders (16-10-4) placed first, second and fourth, respectively, in the north standings and Rocky Mountain (21-5-4) and Calgary (19-6-5) were the top teams in the south.
In the north playoffs, the Raiders went the distance to beat the fifth-place Peace Country Storm (12-14-4) in the best-of-three opening round and were swept by the Lightning in the best-of-three semifinals.
The puck drops Thursday for the St. Albert Bears in the Edmonton Rural Bantam AA Hockey League best-of-three final.
Game time is 7 p.m. against the Beaumont Braves at ROB Arena.
Game two is 6:30 p.m. Monday at Akinsdale Arena and game three, if needed, is 6:15 p.m. Tuesday at ROB Arena.
The Bears (13-13-6) placed third in the Metro red division and Beaumont (21-6-4) tied for first in the Rural white division.
Beaumont edged the Bears 2-1 Feb. 26 in St. Albert in the last league game for both teams.
At the recent provincials, the Bears beat Beaumont 5-3 in the tournament opener and finished 1-3 (10 GF/20 GA) in the five-team draw. Beaumont was 1-2-1 (7 GF/11 GA).
The Bears are 6-1-1 and Beaumont is 7-1-1 in the league playoffs.
The Bears are led by Preston Leung’s five goals and nine points in seven playoff games.
Adam Olsen was the team’s top scorer in league play with 22 points in 32 games and shared the lead in goals with Dylan McFatridge at 12 apiece.
Several St. Albert and area players celebrated an Alberta Junior Female Hockey League championship with the Fort Saskatchewan Fury.
The Fury won the best-of-five final in four games after defeating the Calgary Titans 6-4 March 20 at Father David Bauer Arena.
The Fury started the series with victories of 4-1 and 4-0 in Fort Saskatchewan and lost game three 4-3 in Calgary.
The Fury roster consists of Noelle Appleby, Ashlee Drevant, Melissa Kueber, Angie Mason, Emily Mitchell, Nicole Simmonds, Matana Skoye, Talyn Skoye and Carly Umbach of St. Albert, Jessica Kampjes of Sturgeon County and Chelsea Critchley of Legal.
Talyn potted a pair in game four, Kueber and Umbach notched singles and Mitchell stopped 19 shots.
Kueber tallied twice and Mason also scored in the game three loss.
A pair by Kueber and Mason’s one goal and three assists paced the attack in the series opener.
Critchley posted the shutout in game two with 19 saves and Kueber’s hat-trick led all scorers.
The Fury (22-6) finished second in the north behind the Edmonton Wolves (24-4) and the Titans (12-16) also ranked second in the south behind the Lethbridge Jr. Eagles (22-5-1).
Kampjes led the Fury in scoring with 20 goals and 37 points in 19 games. Umbach was second with 16 goals and 35 points in 28 games and Mason was fourth in points with 23 in 20 games.
The AJFHL was established in 2009 for females 18 to 21 years old to continue playing hockey at a competitive level after midget. The league consists of five teams in the north and five teams in the south.
This weekend the AJFHL hosts the Western Cup Tournament at Ardrossan Recreation Center.
Pool A consists of the Alberta Selects, Sherwood Park Steele, Manitoba Blizzard, Titans and Lethbridge and pool B features the Irma Chargers, Manitoba Northern Stars, Calgary Chaos, Wolves and Fury.
Visit www.ajfhl.ca for the schedule and results.
