WOMEN’s U-18 CHAMPIONSHIP: Alberta and Saskatchewan HEAD TO FINAL
Regional rivals to square off for first-ever Women’s U-18 crown
REGINA – Saskatchewan and Alberta will meet on Saturday for the first Football Canada Women’s Under-18 Championship. The host team finished with a perfect 4-0 record, while Alberta was 3-1 after Day 2 of the 2022 Football Canada Women’s Under-18 Championship at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Wednesday.
Saskatchewan posted a 44-7 win over Ontario and a 14-12 nail biter against Alberta. The Albertans shut out Manitoba 40-0 in their other game of the day. New Brunswick picked up their first win of the tournament with a 19-0 win over Manitoba, while Ontario salvaged a split of the day as they edged New Brunswick 7-6.
Game 6: Alberta 40, Manitoba 0
Emily McMillan scored three times to lead Team Alberta to a 40-0 shutout of prairie rivals Manitoba. McMillan scored all three of her majors in the first period, on runs of eight, 45 and 13 yards to lead her squad to a 32-0 lead. LibertyJo Ware had the other Alberta touchdown in the first period, with Flash Holyk adding another in the second.
McMillan finished with 98 yards on five carries, while Sidanee Bowers had two carries for 56 yards and racked up 117 all-purpose yards. Payton Turski led Manitoba with five carries for 15 yards.
Pearl Inglis led Manitoba defensively with 4.5 tackles, while Kaley Boucher of Alberta led her squad with 4.5 tackles, including two tackles for loss.
Game 7: Saskatchewan 44, Ontario 7
Jacey Goebel scored three touchdowns as the hosts Saskatchewan clinched a spot in the championship game with a 44-7 win over Team Ontario. She scored on a 73-yard run late in the first half to give Saskatchewan a 22-0 halftime lead, and added two more second-half majors to put the game out of reach.
Nevaeh Lang, Shayden Magnus and Camryn Dubreuil had the other Saskatchewan touchdowns, while Kamryn Szumlinski replied for Ontario.
Goebel finished with five carries for 158 yards, while Dubreuil had nine rushes for 97 yards. Ontario’s Szumlinski racked up 74 yards on nine carries.
Saskatchewan outgained Ontario 397 yards to 115 and made 13 first downs to Ontario’s five.
Game 8: New Brunswick 19, Manitoba 0
Alexia Brazeau scored a pair of rushing touchdowns and ran for 149 yards to lead New Brunswick to their first win of the tournament, 19-0 over Team Manitoba. She scored on a 91-yard run in the first period to give the Maritimers a 7-0 halftime lead, and scored from eight yards out early in the second half to put them up 13-0. A 42-yard rush by Alex Purdy and a conversion by Jana McAllister rounded out the scoring.
For Manitoba, McKenna Hampson led with 20 carries for 72 yards, while Payton Turski picked up 45 yards on eight carries.
Purdy was active for New Brunswick on both sides of the ball, with 44 yards rushing to go along with eight tackles. Her teammate Emma Bradley led all players with nine tackles.
With the loss, Manitoba finished round-robin play in fifth place with an 0-4 record, while New Brunswick improved to 1-2.
Game 9: Saskatchewan 14, Alberta 12
Neveah Lang scored two long touchdowns for Saskatchewan as they held off their regional rivals from Alberta, 14-12, in a preview of Saturday’s championship. Lang scored from 87 yards out in the first period, and 68 yards out in the second for the hosts.
Alberta took a 6-0 lead on their first play from scrimmage, as Mackenzie Morrell ran for a 65-yard touchdown. After falling behind 14-6 on Lang’s two scores, Alberta pulled to within two points thanks to a 37-yard run by Emily McMillan with exactly two minutes to go. Alberta got the ball back with 24 seconds left on their own 24-yard line, but could not complete the comeback.
With the teams scoring two touchdowns each, the difference-maker turned out to be Abby Ounsworth, who made one of her conversion attempts, along with posting a game-high 7.5 tackles. She also blocked Alberta’s convert attempt that would have tied the game.
Lang finished with 157 yards rushing on three carries. For Alberta, McMillan had 106 yards on 11 carries, while Mackenzie Morrell ran four times for 95 yards.
Saskatchewan finished round-robin play 4-0, while Alberta is 3-1.
Game 10: Ontario 7, New Brunswick 6
A 30-yard punt single by Mya Lacombe proved to be the difference as Ontario squeaked by New Brunswick 7-6 in the final game of round-robin play. With 3:15 left in the game, Lacombe sent a punt through the end zone (N.B. as the tournament is six-on-six, the end zone is shortened to 10 yards) to break a 6-6 tie. After Lacome’s single, the Ontario defence on for the win.
Jana McAllister had put New Brunswick ahead in the first period on a 38-yard touchdown run, but was unable to make the conversion, leaving her side up 6-0 at halftime. Kamryn Szumlinski replied for Ontario on a five-yard catch from Marie Sartorio at 4:57 of the third, but another failed conversion left the game tied.
McAllister finished with 47 rushing yards, while teammate Alexia Brazeau had 12 carries for 60 yards. Maya Thompson was Ontario’s leading rusher with 36 yards, while Marie Sartorio completed nine of 18 passes for 115 yards. Szumlinski had six catches for 63 yards.
Defensively, Alex Purdy led N.B. with seven tackles, including 2.5 for losses, an interception and a pass knockdown. Violet Kirk and Callie Dorey each had four tackles for Ontario.
The win puts Ontario in third place after round-robin play, with a 2-2 record, giving them a more favourable schedule for Saturday’s third-place playoffs. New Brunswick finishes fourth with a 1-3 mark.
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Saturday’s medal round will start with a trio of mini-games to determine the bronze medallists, starting at 2 p.m. Alberta and Saskatchewan will battle in the championship game, a full four-quarter contest, at 7 p.m.
All games will be streamed on the Football Canada YouTube channel. Follow Football Canada’s social media accounts on Twitter and Instagram for updates during the competition.
Football Canada
2022 Women’s Under-18 Championship
All games at Regina
Standings GP W L PF PA Pct.
Saskatchewan 4 4 0 122 19 1.000
Alberta 4 3 1 106 15 .750
Ontario 4 2 2 40 96 .500
New Brunswick 4 1 3 25 63 .250
Manitoba 4 0 4 16 116 .000
Sunday, July 3
Round-robin (mini-games)
Saskatchewan def. New Brunswick, 32-0
Alberta def. Ontario, 30-1
Saskatchewan def. Manitoba, 32-0
Alberta def. New Brunswick, 24-0
Ontario def. Manitoba, 25-16
Wednesday, July 6
Round-robin (mini-games)
Alberta def. Manitoba, 40-0
Saskatchewan def. Ontario, 44-7
New Brunswick def. Manitoba, 19-0
Saskatchewan def. Alberta, 14-12
Ontario def. New Brunswick, 7-6
Saturday, July 9
Third-Place playoffs (mini-games)
Ontario vs. Manitoba, 2 p.m.
New Brunswick vs. Manitoba, 3:30 p.m.
Ontario vs. New Brunswick, 5 p.m.
Gold Medal Game
Saskatchewan vs. Alberta, 7 p.m.
