WESTERGAARD, LUCOVA LEAD BANFF TO THEIR FIRST VICTORY OF TOURNAMENT

by Tyson Giuriato

WINNIPEG, Man. – Alexis Westergaard (Invermere, B.C.) scored twice, while Livia Lucova (Bradejov, Slovakia) scored once and added three assists and Zosia Davis (Bracebridge, Ont.) chipped in with three helpers as the Banff Hockey Academy skated to a 5-2 win over Fort Frances High School in the seventh place game at the 2013 Female World Sport School Challenge on Saturday morning.

Andrea McDonald (Fort McMurray, Alta.) made 25 saves in net, while Brittany Erickson (Banff, Alta.) and Alena Fiala (Blenheim, Ont.) also scored for Banff, which with the win grabbed its first victory of the tournament.

Westergaard opened the scoring with a power-play marker at 5:44 into the first period, while Erickson followed that up with a power-play tally of her own with just over five minutes left in the period, giving Banff a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes.

After Lucova gave Banff a 3-0 lead in the second period, Shilo Beck (Fort Frances, Ont.) put her team on the board, making it a two-goal game. However, just 1:55 later, Westergaard notched her second of the game and Fiala added another tally soon after to make it 5-1 Banff after two periods.

Fort Frances made it 5-2 less than six minutes into the third period on a goal from Jessica Coran (Fort Frances, Ont.), but that was as close as they would get as Banff hung on for the victory.

Tamara Greek (Whitehorse, Y.T.) picked up two assists for Banff, which outshot Fort Frances 31-27 in the game.

With the win, Banff finishes in seventh place with one victory and three losses, while Fort Frances finished the tournament 0-4 and in eighth place.