The host team for the 2011 Esso Cup national female midget championship makes its home debut tonight at Performance Arena.
Faceoff is at 8:30 p.m. between the St. Albert Slash (3-1-1) and Spruce Grove PAC Saints (1-5) in the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League.
Last weekend in Calgary, the Slash crushed the Chaos 7-1 and tied the Flyers 3-3.
Captain Melissa Kueber tallied twice against the Chaos (2-1-2). Matana Skoye, Karly Heffernan, Charity Price, Sabrina Flemming and Jessica Kampjes also scored. Kueber, Kampjes and Heffernan collected three points apiece. Shots were 25-19 for St. Albert. In net was Emily Mitchell.
Flemming, Kueber and Angie Mason potted goals against the Flyers (2-2-2). It was 1-1 after two periods. The teams traded goals in the third, with the Flyers recording the equalizer while shorthanded with 10:29 to play. St. Albert outshot the Flyers 38-29. In net was Chloe Sanderson.
After five games, Kueber ranks among the league leaders offensively with 10 goals and 12 points.
Last month Kueber and Kampjes played for U18 Alberta at the Mandi Schwartz Challenge in Regina. Kueber was Alberta’s player of the game in the 2-1 win against Team Manitoba and Kampjes earned similar honours in the 6-2 win against the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. Alberta finished 2-1 overall. The only loss was 4-3 to the Alberta Pandas on a late goal by the 2010 CIS national champions. The tournament roster featured 28 players. The competition was part of the final evaluation stage to declare the 20-player line-up for the 2011 Canada Winter Games, Feb. 19 to 27 at Halifax, N.S.
The St. Albert Merchants skate into the weekend winless in three games in the Capital Junior B Hockey League.
The Merchants (2-4) visit the Fort Saskatchewan Hawks (2-3-0-1) Friday at 8 p.m. and Sunday they host the defending provincial champion Beaumont Chiefs (3-2) at 8 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
The Money Men are coming off losses of 4-0 to the Mustangs (2-3-0-1) Sunday in Edmonton, 6-5 to the Morinville Jets (3-2-0-1) Friday in St. Albert and 3-1 to the Knights (4-2) Sept. 28 in Sherwood Park. The Knights are the host team for the 2011 Keystone Cup western Canadian championship.
The top-scoring Merchant is Jake Behiels with six goals. Nicolas Addessi is second in points with four assists.
The St. Albert Sabres travel Friday to Camrose to play the Kodiaks (0-2-2) in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League. Game time is 6:30 p.m.
The Sabres are back home Sunday to entertain the Sherwood Park Flyers (3-0) at 11 a.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
The Sabres (0-2-1) were in action Tuesday against the Maple Leafs (0-2-1) at Coronation Arena, but the score was unavailable at press time.
The last game for the Sabres was Saturday’s 4-0 road loss against Leduc (3-1). Shots were 34-24 for St. Albert.
