The St. Albert Mission U19AA belles tied for fifth place at the Central Alberta AA Sting Tournament last weekend in Lacombe.
The Mission posted one win, lost two and the fifth-place game against the Eastman Flames of Winnipeg ended in a 5-5 stalemate.
“In the end we didn’t get that result we were looking for but still feel we played a pretty strong tournament, given that we have only recently been able to focus on a few tactical items in recent practices lately and we saw improvements in those areas,” said Corey De La Mare, head coach of the 10-13-4 belles.
The Mission placed third in pool B with a 6-3 win over the open B Sting and losses of 4-1 to Calgary Red and 6-3 to the Edmonton Elite.
Jill Suitor tallied twice and added two assists against the Sting. Erica Tosto, Sara DeRose, Sloan Yaceyko and Katelynn Shigeta fired singles and Sarah Willette had two helpers. In net was Shay Laufersweiler.
Haley Groenenboom potted the lone goal against Calgary and Shigeta struck twice and Suitor once against the Elite.
Groenenboom’s third goal of the game was the tying marker against Eastman with 1:16 to play. Haley McFaull and DeRose also scored and Willette and Sydney De La Mare chipped in with two assists apiece.
The Mission led 3-1 with one period to go. Laufersweiler and Paige Squires shared time in net.
The Mission are gradually rounding into form with eight returnees from the 34-14-1 lineup that won bronze at nationals leading the way.
“Right now the area that needs some attention is our offensive framework but we haven’t spent a lot of time on that aspect yet. This is usually an area that comes later in the seasonal development as we want to try and create recurring habits so the forwards and centres can anticipate where the support will be,” De La Mare said. “However, we are starting to see progress. This tournament arguably had some of the top teams un the country so it was good competition and we were in every game and in portions of each game we were clearly the better team, we just have to work on being consistent for longer stretches in our games.”
The Mission are back on the ice Sunday against the U19AA Sting in Penhold.
The next tournament is the Esso Golden Ring, Jan. 15 to 17 in Calgary.
Seventh place was the order of finish for the St. Albert Mission U16AA juniors at the Central Alberta AA Sting Tournament.
The Mission are 17-7-3 overall after losses of 5-3 to Calgary Red and 6-4 to Calgary Apex, followed by a 3-3 draw with Zone 5 AA Pack and a 6-5 win over Zone 2 Big Country last weekend in Lacombe.
Megan Shigeta scored twice, Anatonia Hood once and Shahn Yaceyko notched two assists against the Reds.
Hood’s two goals and Yaceyko’s two assists led the attack against Apex. Shigeta and Abby Klatt also scored as the Mission led 4-3 after the first period.
Klatt posted two goals and one assist and Shigeta connected once against Zone 5. Brooklyn Johnson and Madyson Wing collected two assists apiece and Sydney Ford was in net.
The Mission built up a 5-1 lead with a period remaining against Zone 2. Kirsten Mceachern potted two goals and added two assists and Johnson, Klatt, Yaceyko and Hood also found the back of the net. Ford and Taylor Johnson split time between the pipes.
After the Christmas break the Mission plays the St. Albert U19A belles on Jan. 2 and the Edmonton Elite U16AA juniors Jan. 3.
The Esso Golden Ring is also on tap next month.
