Sackville's AIL Rangers take home tournament gold

With gloves and sticks flying, the AIL Rangers were flying high making it to the finals and winning during their home tournament.

To start the tournament off, the Rangers went up against West Colchester defeating them with an 11-1 win.

During the first period there were seven goals scored for the Rangers. Ethan Crossman put four in the nets and earned an assist. Abby Beale had a nice rebound goal with an assist from Ryan Brown. Tyler Long scored a goal in the first with an assist from Beale and Brown. Isaac Silliker, Lauren Shaw, Aidan O'Neal and Jack Estabrooks all earned assists in the first.

The second and third periods were a little slower, Long earned a goal assisted by Crossman. Crossman netted two more goals assisted by O'Neal, and O'Neal had a great rebound goal assisted by Brown and Crossman.

The next game was against Cap-Pele on Feb. 23. The Rangers had a tough game but they pulled it off with a 5-4 win. Crossman was on fire during the game with all five goals, four unassisted and one assist by Jeffery Lafford.

With our unpredictable Maritime weather, Miramichi had to pull out of the tournament, forcing the Rangers to play against Cap-Pele again on Feb. 28.

The Rangers played hard, putting the game into overtime. The Rangers made it to a win with a score of 8-7. Crossman netted six goals and earned an assist. Blair Estabrooks and Beale also scored for the Rangers. Assists were earned by Keegan Higham, Spencer Acton, Jordan Troop, Brown, B. Estabrooks, Shaw and Silliker.

The Rangers played in the finals against the Moncton Hawks with another overtime game. They came out ahead with a 3-2 score making them the champions.

The first goal was scored by Beale and assisted by Crossman. In the second, Crossman made a great breakaway goal. Going into overtime, Crossman had yet another breakaway goal putting the puck right into the top corner of the net. The Rangers all skated around the rink with their banner and trophies feeling very proud.

Goaltender Sam Tower was amazing, stopping many possible goals; he was picking the puck right out of mid-air many times.

The Rangers also played two other games in between their home tournament. On Feb. 20, they hosted a home game against Moncton AA. The Rangers really pulled together with great passing and good defensive plays. They took a loss with a 4-0 score. The Rangers travelled to Riverview on Feb. 22 to go up against Riverview AA. With a close game, the Rangers were down by one with a score 5-4.

In the first, Crossman earned a goal assisted by Silliker.

In the second period, the Rangers pulled together receiving three more goals. Long netted one assisted by Crossman. Crossman put two in the nets with assists from Silliker, Acton, and Shaw.