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Stettler peewee girls garner league title

The Stettler Storm peewee girls wrapped up their season by winning the North Central Minor Hockey Association championship

Submitted by Sheri Morbeck, Stettler Storm peewee girls

The Stettler Storm peewee girls wrapped up their season by winning the North Central Minor Hockey Association championship last Tuesday in Camrose.

In a one-game final, Stettler defeated Camrose 6-4. Krysta Froese led the Storm with three goals and five points. Gracie Morbeck added two goals and Jessie Armstrong had the other.

The Storm outshot the hosts 42-31.

Stettler’s peewee girls’ team was formed last season. In the Storm’s first year, they struggled to find their place, and finished near the bottom of the league.

Now, in one short year, the girls have persevered, learning to play with confidence in themselves and their teammates, and have won the championship banner.

The Stettler girls lost only five games all season. They played in two tournaments — an eight-team event Stettler hosted, and a tournament in Vermilion, both of which they won.

Then, the coaches and players decided to try for a berth in the provincials. The Storm sailed through the first round against Sherwood Park, but then came up short in their two-game series against Irma.

Irma went on to win the zone title and represented Zone 7 at the provincial championship.

The Stettler girls quickly rebounded to finish the regular season in first place. For the playoffs, a round-robin format was used (two games, total points) between the top four teams in the league. The girls won four games, lost one and tied one, with both the loss and tie being against Camrose. That kept Stettler in first place, and with home-venue advantage.

However, due to scheduling issues for both Camrose and Stettler, the Stettler girls — and their parents and other fans — made the road trip to Camrose last Tuesday night for a “winner-take-all” game.

This championship team consisted of players from Stettler, Erskine, Big Valley (Jessie Armstrong), Elnora (Kacee Ward) and Forestburg (Baillie Bish).

It was a great commitment this season on behalf of all 14 members of the Stettler squad.

Six of the top 10 scorers for the league were Stettler girls, with Maddie Kuefler leading the way.