The St. Albert Mission U19AA belles start off the new year with a pair of games against open A teams.
The belles play the U of A Alumni on Jan 7 at 7:45 p.m. at Enoch Recreation Centre and Relit on Jan. 9 at 9:45 p.m. at Kinex Arena.
The Mission are 7-11-3 this season after going 2-3 at the recent Lacombe tournament, hosted by the Central Alberta Sting.
The Mission lost 6-3 to the Sting and beat the Thompson Okanagan Ringette League Force 6-1 in pool play and during the playoff round defeated the open B Sting 11-4 before losing 6-1 to the Edmonton Elite and 5-0 to the Sting.
The Elite doubled Calgary 4-2 in the final.
Anatonia Hood was the Mission’s top scorer in the tournament with nine points, followed by Haley McFaull with eight and Brooklyn Foote with seven.
Mykenzie Howard netted a team-high six goals and Hood tallied five times.
The next tournament is the 42nd annual Gloucester Invitational, Feb. 2 to 5 in Ontario.
Provincials are Feb. 24 to 26 in Calgary and nationals are March 27 to April 1 in Leduc.
The St. Albert Mission U16AA juniors are back on the ice Jan. 8 against the Edmonton Elite.
Game time is 11:15 a.m. at Troy Murray Arena.
The juniors are coming off a 1-3-1 showing at the Central Alberta Sting tournament in Lacombe.
The Mission lost 5-3 to Calgary Pace, downed the Manitoba Magic 5-2, fell 6-3 to the Lower Mainland Ringette League Thunder and tied the Saskatoon Selects 6-6 in pool play before dropping a 7-5 decision to the Sting in the crossover playoffs between the third-place pool teams.
The Pace blanked Calgary Impact 2-0 in the final.
Vail Ketsa and Grace Haney led the Mission in tournament scoring with 10 points apiece and Abby Klatt had nine.
Ketsa also registered nine goals and Klatt added five.
Upcoming for the Mission is the 31st annual Esso Golden Ring, Jan. 13 to 15 in Calgary.
Also on tap are the Feb. 24 to 26 provincials in Calgary and the March 27 to April 1 nationals in Leduc.
The St. Albert Mission U14AA tweens ran the table as the tournament winners in Lacombe.
The final between the undefeated pool A and B teams ended 5-4 for the Mission against Calgary White.
The tweens outscored Calgary 3-1 in the last period as Morgan Laporte potted a pair and Charlotte Campbell also connected during a 2:03-minute span.
Goals by Reeve Spanakis and Nyah Bodnarchuk made it 2-1 in the opening period.
Samantha Mudryk collected two assists as the Mission finished 4-0.
The Mission advanced to the final after wins of 11-2 against Manitoba, 7-6 against Calgary Red and 5-4 against the Edmonton Elite.
Calgary Blue edged Calgary Red 5-4 in overtime for third place.
Spanakis paced the attack with seven goals and 10 points at the Central Alberta Sting tournament.
Campbell posted seven points and Bodnarchuk and Janie Lajoie chipped in with six apiece.
Bodnarchuk also pumped in four goals.
The Mission are now gearing up for provincials, Feb. 22 to 24 in Calgary, for a berth at westerns, March 23 to 25 in Winnipeg.
