St. Albert hosts the eighth-place Lep/Tigers (1-7-1) today in Alberta Cup premier men’s rugby at the Leading Edge Physiotherapy Fields. Kickoff is 3 p.m.
Last month St. Albert doubled the Lep/Tigers 40-20. The teams could also meet again in the Sept. 11 quarter-finals.
In the first division standings, St. Albert and the Calgary Hornets share top spot at 8-1, but the Hornets are ranked ahead of the 2008 and 2009 pennant winners with three more bonus points.
The last home tilt before the playoffs is the Aug. 28 tripleheader, when St. Albert entertains the third-place Calgary Irish (6-4) at 5 p.m. in the final game of the day.
Meanwhile, the rematch of the 2009 Alberta Cup championship between St. Albert and the Hornets is tentatively booked for Sept. 2 in Red Deer. Last Saturday the teams were to battle at the Calgary Irish rugby club but the match was cancelled because a water main break flooded the fields.
The teams were originally scheduled to scrum down May 29 in Calgary but got snowed out.
Last year the Hornets handed St. Albert its only loss of the season, 24-22 in the provincial final. It marked St. Albert’s second-straight year as provincial finalists.
The season-opening weekend for St. Albert teams in the Capital District Minor Football Association kicks off today at Alpine field. Game times are as follows:
10 a.m. atom: Buccaneers vs. Jaguars.
11:30 a.m. bantam: 49ers vs. Fort Saskatchewan Lightning.
2 p.m. peewee: Colts vs. Camrose Buffaloes.
4 p.m. peewee: Riders vs. Stony Plain Bombers.
For schedule updates, visit www.stalbertfootball.com or www.cdmfa.com.
St. Albert’s second division women’s rugby team is one win away from capturing the shield playoff trophy in the Edmonton Rugby Union (ERU) after knocking off the Strathcona Druids 20-5 Wednesday in Sherwood Park.
Jasmine Van Staveren, Alicia Sliwkanich, Tara Stach and Jen Newman scored tries as St. Albert celebrated its second win of the season. Last month the Druids beat St. Albert 32-17.
The last game in the three team round-robin draw goes this Wednesday, when St. Albert hosts the Lep/Tigers at 7 p.m.
In the ERU standings, the top four teams compete for the ERU playoff crown and the next three best teams play in the consolation bracket. St. Albert (1-9) finished seventh out of eight teams. The Lep/Tigers (5-5) placed fifth and the Druids (4-5) were sixth.
In league play, the Lep/Tigers defeated St. Albert 55-7 in May and 30-0 in June.
As for St. Albert’s premier women, they have elected not to play Saturday’s semifinal in Calgary against the provincial champion Irish (9-0-1). Several players are either not available or injured, and without enough bodies to form a front row, St. Albert wouldn’t be able to field a competitive side. In the premier fixtures, the Irish pounded St. Albert 116-0, 80-5 and 109-0.
