The U15 Parkland AAA Female Rangers have had a season of ups and downs this year, but ended on a high note.
The weekend of Mar. 11 to 13, the team traveled to Carman to compete in the Rural AAA Provincials, which included seven regional teams - Eastman Selects, Pembina Valley Hawks, Westman Wildcats, Brandon Wheat Kings, Norman Wild, Yellowhead Chiefs and Parkland.
The first day of the tournament was a long one, as some of the players hit closed roads on the way to Carman on the Thursday night and slept in their vehicle in a gas station on the No. 1 highway. Other players had early mornings on the road that were just opened to make it to the first game at 1 p.m. in Carman, but all the girls came to play.
The first game we met the host team, Pembina Valley Hawks.
The Rangers came up short and lost a hard fought battle 5-3. The Rangers then faced off against Westman Wild and ended in a 1-1 tie.
Once all the other teams finished the round-robin play, the Rangers placed fourth, which meant on Sunday morning they were playing for a chance to go into the gold/silver medal game.
The Rangers lost against the Brandon Wheat Kings for that chance. The Rangers then moved on to the bronze medal game where they were to meet the host Pembina Valley Hawks again. The Rangers put everything they had into the game and came up with the W, a 4-3 OT win, with the winning goal scored by Avery Frattinger and assisted by Montana Jubenvill. The coaching staff are head coach Phil Fafard from Dauphin, Dave Kirk from Swan River, Jodi Kaskiw from Gilbert Plains, Ann Ransom from Dauphin, and Jill Wiebe from Grandview. The team includes Adel Wiebe of Grandview, Avery Frattinger of Elkhorn, Brooke Shewchuk of Dauphin, Carli Durston of Dauphin, Dara Robak of Gilbert Plains, Ffion Devonlad of McCreary, Grace Kirk of Swan River, Katie Falkevitch of Russell, Layne Minshull of Grandview, Montana Jubenvill of Gilbert Plains, Olivia Brown of Dauphin, Peyton Lehmann of Bowsman, Ruth Dandeneau of Dauphin, Sara Hopfner of Ste. Rose, Sophie Oversby of Ste Rose and Tayah Zimmer of Russell.
