2019 National Women's Under-18 Championship

BRITISH COLUMBIA DEFEATS ALBERTA FOR 5TH PLACE

QUINTON AMUNDSON

WINKLER, Man. – Anne Cherkowski (Coldstream, B.C.) and Jenna Buglioni (Port Moody, B.C.) recorded a goal and an assist to guide British Columbia to a 4-1 win over Alberta in the fifth-place game of the 2019 National Women’s Under-18 Championship on Friday.

Katie Chan (Richmond, B.C.) and Maddy Wiebe (North Vancouver, B.C.) also scored for a B.C squad that broke a 1-1 tie with a trio of goals in the third period.

Jordyn Verbeek (Langley, B.C.) made 23 stops to earn the win for British Columbia, which fell two spots below its third-place ranking at the end of the 2017 competition in Quebec City, Que.

Jaden Bogden (Edmonton, Alta.) produced the only goal for Alberta, which could not find a way to prevail in the fifth-place game for the second championship in a row.

Holly Borrett (Sturgeon County, Alta.) stopped 20 of 24 shots in defeat.

The battle for fifth place was a penalty-filled affair as the two provinces combined for 26 penalty minutes. The penalty killing was robust as only one man-advantage goal was scored despite 11 opportunities.

While B.C. dominated the scoresheet, it was Alberta that drew first blood at 9:45 of the first period as Bogden took advantage of a miscommunication by the B.C. defence to backhand the puck past Verbeek from just outside the crease.

Chan leveled the game just under four minutes later, deflecting the puck into the Alberta cage after receiving a crisp cross-ice pass from Cherkowski on a two-on-one.

Both teams clamped down defensively in the second frame as B.C. could only muster seven shots while Alberta managed five.

Buglioni initiated B.C.’s sprint to the finish line just 32 seconds into the third period with an electrifying breakaway goal that saw her stickhandle the goaltender completely out of position to create an easy tap into the net.

Five minutes later Wiebe put B.C. ahead 3-1 on the power play with a shovel-tip just outside the blue paint, and Cherkowski sealed the deal with a perfect toe-drag short-side goal with 5:28 remaining.