The St. Albert Storm tackle the Edmonton Chargers for the tier II championship in the Capital District Minor Football Association’s midget spring league. Today’s playoff kicks off at 5:30 p.m. at Foote Field. Admission is $5.
In the seven-team standings the Chargers (4-2) finished third and the Storm (3-2-1) placed fourth.
The top two teams — the Edmonton Mustangs (5-0-1) and Battle River Shock (4-1) — qualified for the tier I final.
In week three the Chargers clobbered the Storm 44-13 as all-purpose back Devin Kondro rushed for 107 yards and two touchdowns for a St. Albert squad decimated by injuries. The Storm trailed 16-0 after the first quarter, 30-7 at halftime and 44-13 after three quarters. The team of Grade 9, 10 and 11 players was forced to start third-string bantam quarterback Dallas Moroz with Grade 11 signal callers Tayler White and Mike Spagnolo sidelined with injuries.
The Storm roar into the tier II final as winners of three straight games, including back-to-back shutout efforts.
A victory would equal the most wins in a season by the Storm. Their best record was 4-3 in the team’s 2006 debut as tier I finalists.
Last year the Storm finished 3-4 overall as tier III champions. They finished last in league play at 1-4 but rebounded in the playoffs with two wins.
As of Sunday, 50 teams were entered in the 26th annual St. Albert Girls’ Victoria Day Classic soccer tournament this weekend.
Tier I and II teams compete for medals in the U12 (eight versus eight), U14, U16 and U18 age divisions.
The out-of-province teams are Hollandia Impact of Saskatoon and Prince Albert Celtic in U18 tier I.
Field locations are the St. Albert Soccer Association’s pitches at Riel Park, as well as Forest Park, Poplar, Eldorado, Grosvenor and the artificial turf at Riel Recreation Park.
The tournament kicks off Friday at 6:30 p.m. The medal playoffs go Sunday and Monday.
Schedules are posted on www.stalbertsoccer.com
The annual St. Albert Early Bird baseball tournament swings for the fences this weekend at Legion Memorial Park and Meadowview Diamonds.
Forty-four teams will play ball in mosquito AA (10), peewee AA (six), peewee AAA (six), bantam AA (six), bantam AAA (eight) and midget AA (eight).
The tournament draw opens 6 p.m. Friday between the St. Albert Cardinals and SEEBA in peewee AAA at Legion.
The finals are Monday at 1 p.m. for mosquito AA and bantam AA at Meadowview and peewee AA and peewee AAA at Legion; and 3 p.m. for midget AA and bantam AAA at Legion.
Visit www.stalbertbaseball.com for schedules.
