Playoff positions are up for grabs today in metro Edmonton high school division one men’s rugby.
At 4:45 p.m. the Bellerose Bulldogs tackle the Bev Facey Falcons at Ellerslie. Both teams are 0-2 in pool A.
At 6:15 p.m. the Paul Kane Blues battle the Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds at Ellerslie and the Sturgeon Spirits line up against the J. Percy Page Panthers at the Lynn Davies fields in Sherwood Park. In pool B the Thunderbirds are 2-0, Paul Kane is 1-0-1, Sturgeon is 0-1-1 and the Panthers are 0-2.
The top two teams in pools A, B and C, plus two wildcard teams, advance to next Wednesday’s quarter-finals.
The semifinals are May 26 and the final is May 29 at 6:30 p.m. at Ellerslie.
Meanwhile, the lady Bulldogs finished the Pirates’ high school sevens tournament undefeated Friday.
In five pool games the Bulldogs scored 104 points and allowed only five. In the semifinals they beat F.P. Walshe of Fort Macleod, last year’s champions, 12-5 and in the final shut out Matthew Halton of Pincher Creek 10-0.
The Bulldogs, last year’s premier (now division one) finalists, are 3-0 in pool A heading into next week’s metro playoffs. The playoff pairings for Tuesday’s opening round were unavailable at press time.
The St. Albert Miners buried the Rockyview Knights with three unanswered goals to end Saturday’s senior B contest in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League.
Ryan Davis fired the game winner with 12:56 to play and Graedon Cornfield sniped his sixth and seventh goals of the season during a 1:56-minute span to complete the 9-6 victory at Northstar Hyundai Arena.
The back and forth affair saw the Miners lead 5-4 after two periods, as Darren Kinnear and captain Nate Schmidt scored in the last four minutes in the second frame to put the home team on top. Schmidt’s goal was his second of the night. Owen Williams, Sean Reid and Matt Hamson also scored in support of netminder Dave Marrese.
The Miners improved to 2-0 and the Knights, the 2012 provincial champions, are 1-2.
Cornfield is the Miners’ top scorer with nine points in two games.
Tonight at 7:30 p.m. the Miners play the winless Spruce Grove Slash at Grant Fuhr Arena.
Rory O’Donovan of the St. Albert High Skyhawks was selected to the 40-man Team Alberta roster for the 2014 Football Canada Cup.
The Grade 11 Skyhawk was among six linebackers named to the provincial team for the July 5 to 12 competition in Saskatoon.
After four talent identification camps held over two April weekends in Lethbridge, Calgary, Edmonton and Lacombe, totalling 325 Grade 10 and 11 players, there were 110 finalists for last weekend’s final selection camp.
Alberta reached the Football Canada Cup final the last three years and was the runner-up to Quebec each time by scores of 43-12 last year, 21-11 in 2012 and 28-2 in 2011.
Last year O’Donovan led the Skyhawks in tackles with 27 and was credited with 15 assists in the metro Edmonton high school division two regular season.
The St. Albert Impact Rangers are now the St. Albert S.S. Lazio Rangers after the longtime men’s soccer team sold its premier division spot to the Edmonton Strikers in the Edmonton District Soccer Association.
The Rangers also purchased S.S. Lazio’s division one spot and are competing in the 1A fixtures this season.
According to EDSA bylaws the team’s name must show both parties in the sale during the first year of existence.
Last year the Rangers won their division one promotion challenge for a premier berth in 2014 following a second-place 9-1-4 showing in the 1A table.
The St. Albert Soccer Association adult Impact teams in EDSA are in premier men, premier women, men’s division 1B and women’s division 1B and 2B.
The Impact 1 premier men are 1-1-1 this season after last week’s 2-0 win over the Strikers (1-1-1) at Foote Field.
Thursday at 8:30 p.m. Impact 1 hosts the KC Trojans (1-2) at Riel Recreation Park.
The Rangers were 1-0-1 prior to Monday’s match against Ajax SC (0-2) at the ESA Complex. The score was unavailable at press time.
The Rangers kick the ball May 26 against Futballers FC (1-1) at 8:15 p.m. at Confederation Park.
The Impact 2 division 1B men’s team is 2-0 going into tonight’s contest against Scona Juventus (0-0-1) at 8:30 p.m. at Riel park.
June 1 is the deadline to register for the 23rd annual St. Albert Kids of Steel Triathlon at Fountain Park Recreation Centre.
Youths between four and 19 years old can participate in the June 8 triathlon as an individual or as a team on a swim-bike-run course that varies in distance according to age group.
The Kids of Steel is also the provincial championships for junior elite (16 to 19) and U23 triathletes. Distances are 750-metre swim, 18.4-km bike (draft legal) and five-km run.
Last year 263 triathletes – 138 females and 125 males – and nine teams finished the Kids of Steel.
The website is https://sites.google.com/site/stalbertkidsofsteel/.
Contact Wietske at [email protected] for more information.
