Neepawa hosts 2017 Keith Jordan Memorial Tournament

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Published on Thursday, December 21, 2017

By Eoin Devereux

Neepawa Banner & Press

This past weekend, Neepawa was home to some of Manitoba’s best female midget hockey teams at the third annual Keith Jordan Memorial Tournament. The event, which is named after the well respected local minor hockey official, who passed away in 2015, featured five teams from across the province, with Neepawa represented by the Natives Midget girls squad. Each team played one another during the round robin portion of the weekend, with the two teams with the best overall records playing in the championship game on Sunday, Dec. 17. The third and fourth ranked teams would also face off on Sunday in the consolation final. 

For the host team, the Neepawa Female Midget Natives, the round robin portion of the weekend did not start with the desired result, as they were bested by Brandon 4-1 in the early game on Friday Dec. 15. 

Neepawa hoped to bounce back from that disappointing start with a much stronger showing later in the day, against the St. Vital Chill. Neepawa was able to do just that with a solid 1-0 win. Though the victory was only by a single goal, Neepawa controlled the majority of the game, creating several scoring opportunities.  Jill Gingras of Neepawa was the only player to register a goal though, when she put up into the back of the St. Vital net just 10:16 into the game. Goaltender Juliann Kelly had the shutout for the Midget Natives in this victory, which improved the team’s tournament record to 1-1, after the first day of competion. Neepawa returned to the ice the next day, with a pair of games against Carman and Stonewall respectively. 

The Neepawa Female Midget Natives scored early and often, in their 8-2 victory over the Stonewall Blues on Saturday, Dec. 16. The Natives scored five in the first period on the way to the win. In this victory, Neepawa also had seven different individual scorers, with Jill Gingras being the only player to score more than one in regulation.  

With the win, the Midget Natives secured a place in the championship game and a rematch with the Brandon Female Midget squad, that had defeated them in the round robin. For the final, Neepawa put in an exceptional effort, but still fell to Brandon 2-1. 

Head coach Dave Clark said Neepawa rallied late in the game to push a very talented Brandon club to the limit. He added that the players should be proud of how well they played over the course of the entire tournament. 

As for the weekend off the ice, Clark said the response to the tournament from both parents and the Yellowhead Centre was generally very positive, noting that it was a great success.