MEMBERTOU, NOVA SCOTIA — Membertou welcomed six womens U18 teams from across Canada in the returning National Aboriginal Hockey Tournament from May 7 – 14 last week.
This year, Team Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Eastern Door and the North, Atlantic and Manitoba represented their nations in 12 preliminary matches at the BMO and Emera Rinks.
On Monday, May 9, Team BC took a win over Team Saskatchewan 5-2 in game one, while game two offered a win to Team Ontario 11-0. Game three brought Team Manitoba their first win 7-1, as Team Ontario won 3-2 over Team Saskatchewan in game four.
On Tuesday, May 10, game five gave Team BC another win 9-1 over Team Eastern Door and the North, as game six saw Team Manitoba deliver a loss to Team Ontario 4-3. Game seven saw Team Saskatchewan win over Team Atlantic 7-0, and Team Manitoba take another win against Team Eastern Door and the North 12-2.
On Wednesday, May 11, Team Ontario won over Team Atlantic 14-0 in game 10, while Team Manitoba won 7-1 over Team BC. Game 11 saw Team Saskatchewan win over Team Eastern Door and the North 6-2, and Team BC defeat Team Atlantic in game 12 8-2.
On Thursday May 12, three quarter-final games saw Team Manitoba defeat Team Saskatchewan 5-1, Team Ontario defeat Team BC 3-2, and Team Eastern Door and North defeat Team Atlantic 8-6.
Qualifying games took place on Friday, May 13 between Team BC who defeated Team Atlantic 9-0, and Team Saskatchewan who defeated Team Eastern Door and the North. Semi-finals came later, with two more games. Team Ontario won over Team BC 3-1, and Team Manitoba won over Team Saskatchewan 3-0.
On Saturday, May 14, Team BC took the bronze medal over team Saskatchewan 4-1, leaving the gold medal game to Team Ontario and Team Manitoba. Team Ontario lost 3-2 to Team Manitoba after depleting a two-goal lead in the final ten minutes of play. Both goals were scored unassisted by Alex Ferguson for Team Ontario.
