U18 AA Family Pizza Foxes celebrate their A championship in Okotoks, Alta. (Submitted photo/Angie Hoegie)

By paNOW Staff

U18 Female AA hockey

U18 AA Foxes go 4-0 at Okotoks Classic hockey tournament

Nov 18, 2024 | 3:16 PM

The Prince Albert U18 AA Family Pizza Foxes are riding high after winning one of the marquee female hockey tournaments in Western Canada.

The 17^th annual Okotoks Female Hockey Classic featured teams from Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. The Foxes went undefeated despite facing some setbacks on and off the bench.

“We were hammered by injuries all weekend,” said head coach Tyler Spence. “And illness too. We had multiple girls that had the flu bug on the weekend, so we didn’t have a full, full team all weekend, but the girls really battled hard and persevered. It was a testament to their drive, their willingness to compete and just them as people.”

The Foxes met the Warman Wildcats twice on the weekend. Once in round robin play and again in the final. Spence said they got out to an early lead and spent most of the third period defending, but managed to pull out a 6-3 win to become tournament champions.

“It was timely for everyone. When we weren’t scoring, our defence and our goaltending really stepped up. Goalies were huge. Both of them got an MVP award in one of the games they played.”

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In the Saskatchewan Female Hockey League, rookie Brianna Brataschuk is seventh among goalie leaders with a 1.62 goals-against average (GAA), while Sharon Head sits 10^th with a GAA of 2.25. As a team, the Foxes sit third in their North division standings, just behind the Warman Wildcats and the Saskatoon Comet Legends, who each have more games in hand. Spence said the big tournament win on the weekend will propel the players for this next part of their regular season.

“It shows the girls they can compete with the best teams in the league and that they can really compete with anyone…and overcome injury and adversity.”

The next puck drop for the Foxes is this Friday at 7:30 p.m. when they pay a visit to the Saskatoon Comet Legends.

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panews@pattisonmedia.com