Winning a championship in any sport is a tough feat to achieve, but winning in consecutive years can be even more difficult as the St. Albert Slash learned at the Mac’s tournament in Calgary last week.
After posting three wins in round robin play by scores of 4-1 against the Calgary Chaos, 2-0 against the Vancouver Fusion and 3-2 against the Medicine Hat Hounds, the Slash lost 5-2 to the Saskatoon Stars with first place on the line in their pool.
Despite finishing with a winning record, heading home early from the Mac’s without a trophy for their effort was an emotional letdown.
“It was devastating. As a coaching staff, we were pretty crushed and the girls took it very hard,” said head coach Terry Sydor.
The Slash held a 2-1 lead heading into the third period, but couldn’t stop the Stars from scoring four consecutive goals in the span of six minutes. Melissa Kueber tallied in the opening period and Jessica Kampjes struck in the middle frame. Shots were even at 24 apiece. In net was Chloe Sanderson.
The Stars would go on to win the final 4-2 over the Edmonton Thunder (20-0-4), the north division leaders in the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League. The Slash (16-3-3) are nine points back of the Thunder with two games in hand.
Playing in the same pool as the Stars (the team’s only loss was 4-2 against Medicine Hat) was a challenge that proved costly when it came to clinching a critical wildcard spot. In the 15-team draw, the three pool leaders and one other team qualified for the semifinals.
“It’s tough to come out as the wildcard because you have so many close games where they’re tight, so the goals for and against is not there,” said Sydor. “In some of the other pools, teams are playing against very weak teams and racking up the plus minus.”
Emily Mitchell of the Slash was named the tournament’s best netminder and was selected to the first all-star team. Kueber, the Slash captain, was named to the second all-star team.
Looking ahead to the Esso Cup, April 17 to 23 at Servus Credit Union Place, Sydor hopes to use this year’s performance at Mac's as a way to strengthen the host team for the national championship.
“Any time you’re not successful you try and look for some positives in it, things you can take from the tournament,” he said. “We had a very good effort throughout the line-up at all positions so it’s just a matter of executing more consistently when it comes to competing against top opponents.”
The Slash resume league play this weekend in Calgary. They play the Chaos (8-8-7) Saturday at 3 p.m. at Stu Peppard Arena and the Calgary Flyers (8-13-4) Sunday at 11 a.m. at Max Bell Arena.
