Heading into their Showcase tournament at the Barkman Arena this past weekend, the Prairie Hockey Academy U15 Prep Cougars knew they would be in for some tough competition.
Facing three teams with a combined nine losses over 48 games, the Cougars were going to need an incredible effort to come away with a win against a trio of crews with serious league-title aspirations.
And while their opening game on Friday afternoon against 13-3-0-0 Rink Hockey Academy was relatively close in a 6-1 loss, things were far more difficult the rest of the weekend, as they fell 9-0 to the 14-3-0-1 Northern Alberta Xtreme Saturday night and lost 15-2 to 12-3-0-0 Edge School on Sunday morning.
Prairie Hockey Academy now holds a 6-7-0-0 record to sit in 11th place in 17-team league. Northern Alberta took over top spot thanks to their showing this weekend, with Rink in third place and Edge in fifth, all within four points of one another.
Rink Hockey 6, Prairie Hockey 1
Ethan Grant scored the lone goal for PHA with 2:02 gone in the third period.
Drayden Uhrina scored twice and had four points for Winnipeg-based Rink, while Jake Ritson potted two goals and had three points. Isaac Sousa and Cohen Lewko had a goal and an assist to round out their scoring.
Brady Robert stopped 43 shots for the Cougars, including 22 in the third period, while Tate Barnaby had 12 stops for RHA.
Northern Alberta 9, Prairie Hockey 0
The Xtreme looked every part the first-place club they are, scoring four times in the first and five in second on their way to the shutout win.
Luke Ratzlaff went the distance in goal and faced 48 shots, stopping 19 in the second period when the Cougars were outshot 24-0.
Blake Chorney had three goals and five points to lead a remarkably balanced attack. Jagger John, Ben Harvey, Aidan Poulin, Trey Bohlken, Aiden Wagner and Memphis Adeniken all had single markers.
Cam Hoose had 13 saves to earn the shutout.
Edge School 15, Prairie Hockey 2
Edge scored five goals in a span of just over six minutes to close out the first period and never looked back, taking a 7-0 lead out of the frame and building a 10-1 lead through two.
Roberts faced 27 shots in the first period alone before giving way to Ratzlaff after the seventh goal, and he’d stop 39 the rest of the way. All told, Edge would pour 74 shots at the PHA net.
Van Huebner scored for Edge in the second period and Soren Hayden had their third period marker. Brady Vipond and Ramsey Thompson each had two assists.
Matthew Hilderman had a hat trick for Edge, with Jack Bisson, Mirko Dufour and James Mattheos scoring two each. Ben Oliverio, Aden Bouchard, Brock England, Adam Halat, Reeve Waugh and Declan Cardiff scored single goals; Dufour and Cardiff each had five points.
Delano Pockar had 20 saves in the win.
Other scores from the Showcase saw OHA Edmonton defeat Pilot Mound 7-3, Edge defeat Northern Alberta 8-3, Rink roll past Pilot Mound 13-1, Edge defeat Edmonton 14-4 and Northern Alberta sneak past Edmonton 3-2.
