Cross county battle determined provincial title

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

The 2016 U19B ringette provincials final featured long-time rivals the Strathmore Ice and the Rockyford Ringers, who battled it out right to the very end in Spruce Grove on Easter weekend.
Both teams were undefeated heading into gold medal match and it was the Ice that got out to a 3-0 lead by the half, but saw their lead evaporate and the Ringers were able to take advantage of the Ice’s penalty trouble, en route to winning the game 7-6.
Ringers head coach Colin Melcher said the girls were nervous going into the game but were determined not to lose the game to Strathmore.
“They just always seem to be a tournament team,” said Melcher.
“When it matters, they come through, play hard, never give up and play with heart. That’s what they wait for, is this provincial final at the end of the year and they want to win.”
The Ringers path to gold included knocking off the top two seeded teams, Airdrie in the semi-finals and Strathmore, a team they couldn’t win against in the six tries this season.
Melcher said they had to bring to the tournament and they were able to gel together at the right time.
“We know how hard work you have to do to it,” said Melcher. “They had to play together and just get over the fact that these girls weren’t here all year and have the confidence with the girls we brought in.”
The win capped off the association’s fourth straight provincial crown at a different level.
Ice coach Stephan Lecavalier said that despite missing five girls, his team was entrenched in a tough battle where they worked hard every shift.
“It was a disappointing loss,” said Lecavalier. “Unfortunately we didn’t finish the way we wanted, but we got a silver medal and we’re proud of it. It was very rewarding to see them play that way and just fell short a little bit.”
He added the girls really shut them down in the early going but were on the unfortunate end of a couple bad breaks late in the game.
Overall, the silver medal closed out a successful season during which they won all three tournaments they played in.