The U18 Jaguars are the Alberta Female B Provincial champions for the second year in a row after an outstanding undefeated run at the provincial playoff tournament.

The tournament, once again hosted in Cold Lake, saw six of Alberta’s best compete for the banner. Interestingly enough, the Lakeland Jags would not had been in the tournament had it not been for the host team bye into the games.

After a storybook season, which saw the Jags go undefeated, the team loss to St. Paul in league playoffs. St. Paul went on the lose to the Battle River Knights (BRK) who represented the league in Provincials and incidentally, it came down to them and the Jags in the gold medal game.

BRK went two for three in round robin action, meeting the 3Cs Coyotes in the semis. It was a close match-up between these clubs, but ultimately with only minutes left on the clock, BRK took the lead.

On the other side of the bracket, the Jags were pitted against St. Albert in the semis, taking a huge 9-1 win. Shining stars of the game were Berry Rosychuk and Captain Cierra Nuttal. Rosychuk with a hattrick and Nuttal with four goals and two assists.

Primed for action, the Jags took a two hour break before the gold medal game.

By 3:00 pm, Imperial Oil Place was full of fans supporting the home team and ready for the glory of a repeat win. The Jags took the lead halfway through the first, it was a 1-0 game after 20 minutes.

Lakeland Connect caught up with Nuttal during the first intermission. The captain said the team would have to set nerves aside and get back to basics, “we need to move our feet, get in front of the net and make sure we can bury all those rebounds.”

That’s exactly what played out, with Dacia Lodoen excelling the team to a 2-0 lead at 8:42 in the second, followed by Abby Metchewais securing a 3-0 lead before the close of 40 minutes.

Lakeland Connect met up with Sydney Desjarlais during the second intermission. The graduating player had great advice for girls looking to get into female hockey, “the family here, the loving care and initiative here that support you are great. There’s definitely a lot more here than you’ll get from any other sport.”

Despite some early penalty calls in the third, the Jags kept the pressure up, playing mainly in the BRK zone. The Jags solidified their gold medal with another goal from Bella Cory. After 60 minutes, it was a 4-0 game.

With the final buzzer, the team flooded the ice losing sticks, gloves and helmets in the process. It was their weekend and their year. The Jags worked for every goal and spirits remained high throughout the weekend.

Both goaltenders, Ava Pinch and Kayla Quinney played extremely well, only allowing four goals past the pipes all weekend. Pinch with three games and Quinney with two.

Following the medal handouts, the team skated a victory lap and took pictures with family members. Graduating players Cierra Nuttal, Faith Donovan, Jamie Bateman, Berry Rosychuk and Sydney Desjarlais were all recognized.

Coach Brad Krawchuk said, “everyone came together this weekend and put their heart on the line and made it happen.”

Coach Jared Sylvestre, “they played well all season. The girls played hard and they deserved to be here. They didn’t lose a game. They deserve it. It was a hard fought season and the girls gelled at the end.”

For the stats lovers, the Lakeland Jaguars held the top three point-getter spots in the tournament, Nuttal & Rosychuk 10 and Donovan 8. Pinch and Quinney held the top goalie spots with 0.33 and 1.5 average respectively.