Top Seeds Advance To U-18 National Semi Finals

Ontario Red, Quebec, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan are the last four teams standing at the 2024 U-18 Women's National Championships in New Brunswick. They were the top four seeds heading into the quarterfinals, and they're the four teams remaining in the semi-finals.

Quebec opened the day with a 5-1 win over the host Team Atlantic. Madison Lévesque scored a pair and added an assist, while Renée Bishop had a goal and an assist to lead the way for Quebec. Netminder Marilou Grenier continued her strong tournament making 29 saves in the win.

Ontario Red continued their title defence firing 49 shots on Team Manitoba in their 6-0 win. Dorothy Copetti and Molly Farace each had two goals and an assist for Ontario Red. It was another dominant performance for Ontario Red, who is targeting another title.

“Pressure is a privilege, that’s what we say," said Copetti. "Red has won this tournament 13 of the 14 years and we want to do it again this year. We want to represent the logo on the front and I think now the girls are feeling good and ready to roll into the semis.”

British Columbia beat their western neighbors Alberta 6-1. Callie Rice, who is tied for the tournament lead in scoring with Ontario Red's Copetti, scored a pair of goals for British Columbia in the win. BC's special teams also stepped up with Kennedy Sisson scoring a power play goal, while Taya Lonsdale scored a short handed marker in the second period.

The final game of the day saw Saskatchewan beat Ontario Blue 5-2. Stryker Zablocki broke out in the game putting on her best performance of the tournament scoring a pair of goals for Saskatchewan. Halle Duchene had a goal and two assists in support. Next up, Saskatchewan will place Quebec in the semi finals.

“We are a hard-working team and we stuck to that tonight," said Zablocki after the win. "We used our speed, got lots of shots and found a way. A lot of us in that room have tasted gold at the Esso Cup and we really want to keep that going and do that here, so we have to go back to work tomorrow.”

British Columbia will face Ontario Red in the other semi-final.