RED DEER, Alta. – It was a battle of east vs. west in the women's hockey gold medal game at the 2019 Canada Winter Games, with Alberta taking the top prize after a 2-1 win over Quebec at the Downtown Arena in Red Deer.

It is the third time Alberta has won gold at the Canada Winter Games, after 1991 and 2011.

Alberta struck first off a power-play goal from Kassy Betinol (Okotoks, Alta./Pursuit of Excellence, CSSHL) just past the halfway mark through the first period. Quebec evened it up on the power play at 8:35 of the second thanks to Brianna Ware (Pointe-Claire, Que./Lac St-Louis, LHFDQ), but Jaden Bogden (Edmonton, Alta./St. Albert, AFHL) put Alberta ahead for good before the end of the middle frame. Quebec battled hard with 31 shots on net, 15 of those coming in the third period, but goaltender Bella McKee (Irma, Alta./Lloydminster, AFHL) stood tall in net, making 30 saves.

Quebec suffered its first loss of the tournament, but still earned a medal for the eighth-consecutive tournament (one gold, four silver, three bronze); it has medalled at every Canada Winter Games since women's hockey was first included in 1991.

British Columbia takes down Ontario to claim bronze

Earlier in the day, British Columbia claimed the bronze medal, defeating Ontario 5-4. The medal is the first for B.C. in women’s hockey since it captured bronze in 1991. 

Anne Cherkowski (Coldstream, B.C./Pursuit of Excellence, CSSHL) opened the scoring for B.C. in the first period, but a back-and-forth second period saw Ontario take a 3-2 lead to the final 20 minutes. A second goal from Cherkowski, followed by markers 17 seconds apart from Nina Jobst-Smith (North Vancouver, B.C./ECDC Memmingen, GER) and Chanreet Bassi (Lake Country, B.C./Pursuit of Excellence, CSSHL) gave B.C. a two-goal advantage. Julia Gosling (London, Ont./London, PWHL) got Ontario within one with her tournament-leading eighth goal to make it a one-goal game, but that would be it for scoring.

For more information on women’s hockey at the 2019 Canada Winter Games, please visit HockeyCanada.ca or follow along via social media at Twitter.com/CanadaGames by using the official hashtag #CGHockey.