Finishing fourth at the 16-team nationals was a major milestone for the St. Albert Mission.
The 6-3-1 record for the U19AA belles included the semifinal loss to the BVRA Angels (Team Manitoba), the eventual gold medallists at the Freson Bros. Canadian Ringette Championships in Leduc.
“The fact that we made it to the championship round and then we were able to get to the bronze medal game was a huge accomplishment for us,” said co-captain Haley Groenenboom. “Even though we didn’t win we were so honoured just to have been able to be in the position to experience it.”
The 15-player roster for nationals included six returnees from last year’s 18th place result at the 20-team nationals in London, Ont.
“For some of the girls it was their first time experiencing nationals, especially the U19 level,” said Groenenboom, a third year U19AA player. “We also didn’t do so well at the beginning of the year (7-11-3 at Christmas break) so just being able to go there was an accomplishment for a lot of girls, even though all five Alberta teams did go.”
Saturday’s bronze playoff against Calgary was a rematch of the Ringette Alberta final in February, when the Mission lost their lone game at provincials by a score of 5-1.
The Mission had earlier defeated Calgary 4-3 in the five-team round robin.
“That was a turning point for us, just seeing that we really can compete with the best of the teams in Alberta,” Groenenboom said. “We said, ‘What’s to stop us from competing with the best of the teams in Canada?’”
Penalties decided the 5-3 outcome against Calgary as the Alberta champions struck four times on the power play during an 11-minute span in the opening period to erase a two-goal deficit and in the last period made it 5-2 on the power play with 14:14 remaining.
“It was pretty close the whole game, we just had some penalty trouble,” said Groenenboom of the team’s 11 infractions, compared to eight for Calgary.
The Mission connected three times with the man advantage as Mykenzie Howard and Anatonia Hood capitalized in the first and Alex Dyky, an import, found the back of the net with 7:35 to play.
Liv Helland, an import, assisted on a pair of goals.
Shots were 21-11 in the first and 41-35 overall for Calgary as Shaylene Laufersweiler of the Mission went the distance.
“Whenever you play Calgary you’re in for a tough game so we knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game at all and it was the same thing as the provincial final but that’s sports,” Groenenboom said.
The semifinal was an 8-2 setback for the undefeated champions from Manitoba. The Mission were outscored 6-3 in the first after falling behind 2-0 before the five-minute mark and trailed 6-1 with under seven minutes left until the break.
Howard and Helland scored and Groenenboom assisted on both goals.
Shots were 32-15 in the first and 50-23 in total for Manitoba.
Paige Squires was replaced by Laufersweiler at 4:47 of the first after Manitoba’s second goal on eight shots.
“They’re just a really good team. They deserved to win nationals,” Groenenboom said. “Playing in that game I was just in awe of all of the goals that they scored and how they moved the ring so easily. They just had that extra step.
“You could tell that team had been playing together for a long time whereas we’ve just been playing together for a season. For a lot of our girls it’s their first year at U19 so just being able to be in the same spot in the semifinals with them was amazing for us.”
The Mission, 16-18-3 after provincials, rattled off a 5-1-1 mark in pool A at nationals.
Results were 4-3 against Team Nova Scotia, 9-8 loss to the Magic (Man. No. 2), 3-0 against the Central Alberta Sting (Alta. No. 3), 3-2 against Team Prince Edward Island, 3-0 against Team Saskatchewan, 3-2 overtime loss to Rive Sud (Quebec No. 2) and 5-2 against Team Ontario.
Laufersweiler, 3-1-1 and 2.04 GAA in the round robin, posted both shutouts.
Rive Sud was also 5-1-1 in pool play and in the gold-medal game lost 4-0 to Manitoba.
Howard was the Mission’s top scorer in the round robin with seven goals and 12 points.
Co-captain Madison Darda notched five goals and tied for second in points with Hood and Haley McFaull with nine apiece.
In the quarter-finals of the championship round, Helland sniped the only goal in the last period of the 3-2 decision against the Edmonton Elite (Alta. No. 3), the third-place pool B team at 5-2 behind 5-1-1 Calgary and 7-0 Manitoba.
Hood and Helland also lit the lamp during a 2-2 stalemate in the first.
The Elite dominated the shot count by a 51-25 margin as Laufersweiler backstopped the Mission to victory.
“That was a big game because we’ve been back and forth with Edmonton all year. It’s a rivalry with another Alberta team so either way there was going to be some animosity I guess,” Goenenboom said. “It was just go out there and play the best that you can because you know their systems and they know ours for the most part so whoever could get the goals got it.”
Groenenboom and Laufersweiler were recognized for their staunch performances at nationals with all-star team honours.
Groenenboom, 19, was a second-team selection on defence.
“I just got moved to defence (from centre) right before provincials so it really meant a lot because it was kind of a new position for me,” said the Paul Kane High School graduate and McEwen University science student “I learned a lot from all the girls on defence. They taught me a lot because I've never been in that position before and they were able to push me to get on the second line all-star team.”
Laufersweiler, 18, was named the first-team netminder.
“Shaylene was a big part of our team last year and this year she really stepped up and even when we were not as strong as a team and we were still trying to figure things out she was always there for us. She stood on her head and helped us win multiple games so it’s super nice that she got recognized as well as being such a solid part of our team,” Groenenboom said of the import from Stony Plain via the Spruce Grove ringette program.
Nationals also signalled the last hurrah with the Mission for Groenenboom, Darda, McFaull and Laufersweiler.
Groenenboom and Darda were also the only players remaining from the Mission’s bronze-medal showing at the 2015 nationals in Fort McMurray.
“There are some similarities between this year and my first year when we got bronze, like just as a team. It was all one cohesive unit. No one tried to differ from the systems so it just worked really well. I guess that’s how you get far. You just listen to what the coaches are telling you whether you agree with it or not. At a certain point they get you where you need to be. They see the game from a different place than the players do and you’ve just got to trust them and it gets you far in the games,” said Groenenboom, who made her national debut with the U16AA Mission in the first year of the St. Albert Ringette Association’s junior and belle AA programs.
ICE CHIPS: The U16AA junior Mission finished 15th out of 21 teams at nationals.
The Mission were seeded fourth out of eight Alberta teams in the tournament.
In pool B, the Mission were 3-3 for fifth place and in the consolation round defeated the Elite (Alta. No. 7) 6-3 and lost 5-3 to Zone 5 Pack (Alta. No. 8).
Vail Ketsa led the Mission in scoring at nationals with 10 goals and 14 points in the round robin and two goals and five points in the consolation round.
Kirsten McEachern chipped in with three goals and five points in both the round robin and consolation round.
