Local Sports

Hockey Canada's National Women's Team September Camp begins today at Canada Games Park in Thorold, Ontario. Five Manitobans are at camp including defenders Ashton Bell of Deloraine and Jocelyne Larocque of Ste. Anne along with goaltenders Kristen Campbell of Brandon, Raygan Kirk of Ste. Anne and Corinne Schroeder of Elm Creek. The 48 players invited to camp will be split into Red and White teams for practices, fitness testing and a pair of intrasquad games on Thursday and Saturday.

The Steinbach Pistons gave up four second period goals and lost 5-4 to the Nighthawks in Niverville. Gavin Holod scored twice for Steinbach while the rest went to Mathis Laplante and Shane Burns. Caleb Lepitre had a pair of goals for the Nighthawks and singles went to Dawson Zeller, Adam Vigfusson and Noah Asmundson who potted the go-ahead goal 3:41 into the third period. The Pistons next pre-season game is Friday in Winkler against the defending MJHL champion Flyers. Niverville will meet the Steelers in Selkirk on Wednesday. 

The Winkler Storm defeated Lucania United FC by forfeit on Sunday. The Storm are 13-2-2 and have clinched top spot in the Manitoba Major Soccer League 1st Division. Winkler's final regular season game is Sunday, September 15th at home against Kucame FC.

The Okotoks Oilers' first full season in the BCHL got underway on Friday night with the Oils' first preseason game of the season.

The Green and Gold were unable to pick up the win as the visiting Sherwood Park Crusaders won 5-4 at the newly named Vikings Rental Centre.

Both teams scored twice on the power play with the game tied up at four going into the third period.  The Crusaders would score at the 6:31 mark and would hold on for the win.

New goalie for the Oilers, Simon Westing faced 33 shots, stopping 28 in the loss.

The High River Flyers of the Heritage Junior Hockey League picked up two wins in exhibition play over the weekend.

The preseason kicked off on Friday night with the Flyers in Didsbury taking on the Mountainview Colts. The Flyers skated away with an 8-5 win.

Then on Sunday, the boys doubled up on the Copperheads in Coaldale 4-2.

The Eastman Warriors beat the Wasps in the semifinal match on Saturday in Steinbach, punching their ticket to the final later this month. 

After the victory, Warriors’ Coach Darian Brown told SteinbachOnline that it was great to host the game and have fans cheer them on.  

The Portage Pitbulls had a great crowd turn up for their annual homecoming. Multiple games ran over the course of September 8, with the U14, U12 and U10 teams taking the field.

Luke Irwin, Head Coach of the U14 team and President of the Portage Pitbulls Football Club, describes some of the particular parts of the event.

The Winnipeg Goldeyes (2-1) are advancing to the second round of the Miles Wolff Cup Playoffs after a 10-3 victory over the Sioux Falls Canaries in the deciding third game of the West Division Series at Blue Cross Park Saturday evening.
 
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The PCI Trojans baseball program is hosting its annual tryouts between September 10 and 19, with several dates open. Coach Jay Dewis says they'll have a few spots open to fill for the season when it kicks off next spring.

"We graduated four players from our 2024 team; all four filled prominent roles for our team. That leaves some big shoes to fill. We have 11 players that are eligible to return in 2025. That's how high school sports work for everybody though - you ask your younger players to step into bigger roles each season."

The 4-3 preseason thriller between the Cochrane Generals and Airdrie Thunder last night (Sept. 7) at Totem One had all the makings of a mid-season matchup.

The Gens' second of three preseason games and the only one on home ice, was fast, physical and had fans on their edge of their seats when the Thunder's Tyson Sandhu tied it up with one second remaining in regulation.

In three-on-three overtime play, Nathan Sheriffs netted the winner for the Gens with 1:41 remaining.