The St. Albert Slash lost only one game at the Mac’s midget AAA female hockey tournament in Calgary and it was against the championship winners from Saskatoon.
After going 2-0-2 in pool play the Slash suffered a 5-2 setback to the Stars in Wednesday’s semifinal at Max Bell Centre.
“It was a very successful tournament,” said Slash head coach Phil Webb. “It was a little disappointing that we didn’t make it to the final but it’s a tough tournament and tough schedule. You’re there for seven days. You get worn out and people get sick and injured. It’s a tough go for seven days for sure.”
The Stars struck twice in the first period and led 3-0 after 40 minutes before captain Jenna Jewell put the Slash on the board early in the third.
The Stars restored their three-goal lead with 12:22 remaining with their second power-play marker of the game.
Megan Lalor cut the lead in half with 4:14 to play and the Stars closed it out with an empty-net goal with 1:33 remaining.
Shots were 29-27 for the Stars. Slash starter Erynn Shantz (1-1-2, 1.67 GAA) let in three goals on 18 shots in 36:28 minutes of action and Natalie Bender (1-0, 1.45 GAA) stopped 10 out of 11 shots.
“I don’t think we came out as hard as we could’ve. We kind of got going in the second and third but it was a little bit too late,” Webb said. “The second goal they got (with 4:35 left in the first) was like five feet offside. I think some people let up and they didn’t call the offside so that wasn’t good.”
The Stars went on to beat the Calgary Fire 4-2 in Thursday’s final.
“They’re fast and they move the puck really well. They were a good hockey team for sure,” Webb said of the 6-0 Stars.
The Slash and Westman (Man.) Wildcats (2-0-2) tied for first in their pool for semifinal berths in the 15-team female draw. The Wildcats fell 4-1 to the Fire in the playoffs.
The Slash opened the tournament with a 1-0 decision against the Northern Cougars (1-2-1) of Prince George, B.C.
Jamie Jones scored and Shantz recorded 24 saves for the shutout.
The next draw was a 2-2 against the Wildcats.
Lalor’s second power-play goal in the middle frame was the equalizer with 33 seconds to play in the period. Kyrelle Skoye assisted on both goals and Shantz was tested 30 times.
The second win for the Slash was 6-1 against the Peace Country Storm (0-4) of Grande Prairie.
Kennedy Newton scored twice and Lalor picked up two assists. Bantam AAA affiliate Brandy Steinman, Kennedy Davidson, Jewell and Jones also found the back of the net and Bender stopped 18 shots.
The last game before the playoffs was a 1-1 stalemate against the Swift Current Wildcats (1-0-3). Ella Fedoruk potted the tying goal with 15:12 remaining and Shantz registered 14 saves.
“I don’t think we played our best to tell you the truth. We could’ve played better,” Webb said of the team’s round-robin results. “We played better the weekend before when we played in Red Deer (2-1 win against the Chiefs, the host team for the 2015 Esso Cup national championship). We had a really good game and I was kind of hoping we’d play like that but we didn’t play like that the whole week. If we had played consistently better we would’ve probably done better in that semifinal game.”
The Slash will now regroup for the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League playoffs with eight games left in the schedule. The next league game is Wednesday against the Sherwood Park Fury at 8:15 p.m. at Go Auto Arena.
The top six finishers in the 10-team standings received a first round bye. Round two is a best-of-five format starting March 2.
At the Christmas break, the third-place Slash (14-7-5) were five points up on the Fury (13-8-2) but trailed the Fire (18-2-4) and Chiefs (16-5-4) for the league pennant.
“I still think we have some things to work on. We can get better. I still don’t think they’ve played their best hockey all year,” Webb said. “We’ve just got to keep at it and work on things and hopefully we reach the top of our game when we need to at the right time when the playoffs are here.”
ICE CHIPS: At the league all-star game today the Slash will be represented by Shantz (9-4-3, 1.33 GAA, three shutouts), Lalor (league-high 19 goals, plus 30 points in 23 games), Jewell (16 points), forward Rachel Rochat (11 points), defenceman Megan Webb (six points) and coach Webb on Team Teal.
Puck drop is 1 p.m. at Clareview Arena.
Lalor, who has committed to the St. Cloud State Huskies in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, was the Slash’s top scorer at the Mac’s with three goals and six points.
Jones had four points and Jewell and Newton finished with three apiece.
