The Olds Stingers capped their stellar season with a sweep of the Junior B Tier III provincial championships, hammering the Brooks Drillers 18-3 in the gold medal game, held on home turf at the Olds Sportsplex, July 16.
The Stingers headed into the tournament undefeated in regular season play, finishing the year 14-0, and winning every game by more than a 10-point spread.
Olds faced off against Calgary in their first provincial match, crushing the Axemen 27-2, before going on to play the second-ranked Brooks Drillers, and winning by a wide margin, despite head coach Laine Foshaug saying they just "squeaked by."
"I think we were a little too cocky going into that one," said Foshaug about the 19-11 win. "They were kinda putting us in our place for a little bit."
Foshaug said that game smartened the team up for a second meeting with the Drillers in the gold medal game, after an easy 16-1 win over the Cranbrook Elite in their third match.
"They showed us that they are here to play and just because we beat teams handily, that we shouldn't be taking them lightly in any other game," he said.
The Stingers hammered the Drillers this time around, beating Brooks 18-3, to clinch gold, and become the first Olds team to go undefeated for the entire season.
"They played with a lot more intensity in that game," said Foshaug, "knowing it was the gold medal game and we wanted to show that we are the champions who go undefeated."
In addition to bringing home the provincial banner, the Stingers' No. 7, Braiden Smith, was named the leading scorer in Tier III regular season play, racking up 116 points in 14 games with 47 goals and 69 assists.
SIDEBAR (for both mavericks and stingers stories. Please format the body copy, bolding wins, and tabbing dates, thnx)
Junior B Tier III Provincials Olds Sportsplex, July 14-16
July 14 Olds Stingers 27, Calgary Axemen 2
July 15 Olds Stingers 19, Brooks Drillers 11
July 15 Cranbrook Elite 1, Olds Stingers 16
July 16 Olds Stingers 18, Brooks Drillers 3 (Gold medal game)
Junior B Tier II Provincials Strathcona County, July 21-23
July 21 Lethbridge Cudas 10, Olds Mavericks 8 July 22 Olds Mavericks 16, Sherwood Park Titans 7 July 22 Olds Mavericks 6, Lakeland Heat 12
July 23 Olds Mavericks 6, Sherwood Park Titans 7 (Bronze medal game)
