The St. Albert Mission made the quantum leap from 13th to seventh place in the junior U16AA division at the Tim Hortons Canadian Ringette Championships.
“It was a successful tournament for our team,” said head coach Gary Shigeta. “Overall, the girls were proud of their accomplishments.”
It’s the second season for the junior and belle AA programs in the St. Albert Ringette Association.
“Making top eight was a huge step for St. Albert’s AA program and with the U19’s (belle) impressive bronze it makes St. Albert ringette a strong association,” Shigeta said.
The Mission were seeded seventh in the round of eight and in the quarter-finals lost 4-3 in overtime to the Calgary Hype, the Team Alberta reps, to finish 5-4 overall in Fort McMurray.
The teams exchanged singles in the last period after the opening 20 minutes was deadlocked at two
Mykenzie Howard and Megan Shigeta put the Mission on top 2-0 and captain Katie Shigeta assisted on both goals in the first period.
Anatonia Hood tied the game at three with 11:22 left in regulation time and the Hype potted the OT winner at the 1:56 mark.
Mission netminder Taylor Johnson faced 26 shots in the first and 41 in total.
The Mission also dropped a 7-4 decision to the Hype on day one while going 2-2 in the first round. They beat Outaouais of Quebec 5-3 and the Saskatoon Selects 6-3 and lost 11-4 to Manitoba, the gold medallists in the 15-team tournament.
The second round started off with a 7-0 setback to Quebec, followed by consecutive 7-5 victories against British Columbia and Saskatchewan before the must-win 5-3 affair against the Calgary Pursuit for a berth in the round of eight.
It was 3-2 Mission in the first on goals by Taylor Ostafichuk, Amanda Letourneau and Howard, who struck shorthanded with one second left in the period. Howard led the team in points in the win with three.
Maddy Sanders and Katie Shigeta potted goals 35 seconds apart in the last period to snap the 3-3 stalemate. Sanders’ game winner was scored with 11:45 to play.
The Mission racked up 25 shots in the first and 43 in total as Johnson recorded 24 saves in the team’s first win against the Pursuit this season.
The Pursuit went on to lose the bronze final to the Hype 5-4 in OT.
The Mission were ranked fifth out of the six Alberta teams at nationals, based on results at provincials in St. Albert.
At nationals, the provincial finalists, Edmonton Elite, finished sixth, Zone 5 Pack was ninth and Central Alberta Sting placed 10th.
The Mission compiled an overall 31-12-3 record with four returning players on their roster that included seven U14AA tweens from last season.
