Manitoba’s female team repeated as gold medallists at the 2018 National Aboriginal Hockey Championships in Membertou First Nation, Nova Scotia, getting two goals from Cross Lake’s Carrigan Umpherville and one from Kaila Powell, a Norway House Cree Nation member, while Julie Albert of Norway Cree Nation picked up two assists in a 5-3 win over Ontario South female in the final.
Manitoba went undefeated in the tournament, qualifying for the final with a 10-1 win over B.C. in the semifinals after beating Alberta and Atlantic 7-0, Ontario North 5-2 and Ontario South 5-4 in the preliminary round.
Umpherville had eight goals and three assists in six games for Team Manitoba, while Powell scored seven goals and assisted on four others. Albert had one goal and three assists, while Pashen Garrick of Cross Lake had one assist in the tournament and Kennesha Miwaggon, also of Cross Lake, totalled four assists. Goaltender Shayna Moore of Thompson, also a Cross Lake Band member, was in goal for three of her team’s wins, including the semifinal win over B.C.
The province’s male representatives wound up third after beating Ontario South 4-1 in the bronze medal game following a 4-3 loss to B.C. in the semifinals. Thompson’s Hunter Halcrow of the Cross Lake Band had two assists in the bronze medal game and one goal in the semifinal along with three assists in the preliminary round, in which Manitoba won twice and tied twice. Keistin Saunders of Thompson had his only goal of the tournament in the first preliminary round game, a 9-4 win over Ontario South.
Manitoba claimed two medals at the championships for the second straight year, though in 2017 both the male and female squads won gold.
