Koe off to great start with another curling triumph
Kevin Koe couldn’t have planned it any better.
After his earliest start to the curling season in early September and winning the first Grand Slam with his Calgary-based team of Marc Kennedy, Brent Laing and Ben Hebert, Koe came back from a threeweek break to defend his title at the Direct Horizontal Drilling Fall Classic at Edmonton’s Crestwood Curling Club on Monday.
Koe defeated the Saville Centre’s Brendan Bottcher 4-2 in the final to finish a perfect 6-0 run this weekend, improve his season record to 16-4 and boost his 2015-16 winnings to $38,500.
“This is an awesome ’spiel,” Koe said. “The ice was great, there’s great teams, the money’s good. For us, we’ve put in a quite a bit of work early in the season and the guys are throwing it good and we were able to put it all together, so we’re pretty happy.”
In the Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic at Calgary, the Saville Centre’s Val Sweeting (5-1) and Kelsey Rocque (6-2) were both eliminated in the semifinals. Sweeting lost 5-3 to Calgary’s Chelsea Carey while reigning Canadian champ Rachel Homan scored four in the eighth end for a 7-4 victory over Rocque.
OIL KINGS’ WIN STREAK SNAPPED
The Edmonton Oil Kings split a pair of WHL games on the road, defeating the Brandon Wheat Kings 4-3 in a shootout on Saturday and dropping a 5-3 decision to the Regina Pats on Sunday.
Edmonton (3-3-1-0) led the Pats 3-1 after an early second-period goal by Andrew Koep, but then allowed four straight goals. Swiss import Dario Meyer, with his first WHL goal on a breakaway 84 seconds into the game, and Tyler Robertson also scored for the Oil Kings while goalie Alec Dillon finished with 30 saves.
On Saturday, Patrick Dea made a career-high 43 saves and the Oil Kings scored three power play goals (Aaron Irving, Lane Bauer and Luke Bertolucci) within two minutes and 58 seconds in the second period. Colton Kehler scored the only goal in the shootout to give Edmonton its third straight win.
FC EDMONTON BLANKED TWICE
FC Edmonton’s North American Soccer League playoff hopes took a hit with Sunday’s 3-0 loss to the New York Cosmos, the team’s second straight shutout loss on the road. The Eddies (9-11-7) dropped one point behind fourth-place Tampa Bay heading into Wednesday’s 5:30 p.m. match with the Carolina RailHawks at Cary, N.C.
WILDCATS, HUSKIES FINISH TIED FOR LAST
Macho Bockru caught a sevenyard touchdown pass and Zach Regert added a two-point convert with 24 second remaining to lift the Winnipeg Rifles to a 36-33 victory over the Edmonton Wildcats on Sunday at Clarke Field.
Running back Bray Josue (16 carries for 131 yards) and quarterback Jordan Olson (17 for 42 passing for 283 yards plus four interceptions) each scored their second TD of the game in the fourth quarter to put the Wildcats in position for their second win of the Prairie Football Conference season. Unfortunately, Winnipeg’s late comeback left the ’Cats in a last-place tie with the Edmonton Huskies at 1-7.
Edmonton defensive back Jayden Dalke had seven tackles, a fumble return and one interception to finish with 104 defensive points, the most in the league.
Meanwhile, the Regina Thunder scored 19 unanswered points in the second half to down the Huskies 29-6 in Regina. Edmonton’s Cole Sabourin kicked two field goals, including a 45-yarder, for a league-high 13 three-pointers in 15 attempts this season.
Playoffs begin Sunday with the 4-4 Rifles at the 7-1 Saskatoon Hilltops and the 5-3 Calgary Colts at the 6-2 Thunder.
FALCONS REMAIN UNDEFEATED
The third-seeded Bev Facey Falcons (6-0) of Sherwood Park thumped St. Albert’s Bellerose Bulldogs 54-7 last week to maintain their Football Alberta provincial high school ranking. Bellerose (3-3) remained in the Tier I Top 10, but dropped from sixth to eighth place.
Spruce Grove Panthers (3-1-1) are still ranked fifth despite a week off while Harry Ainlay Titans (3-3) remain at No. 7 after a 26-14 loss to St. Albert’s Paul Kane Blues (4-1), the No. 2-ranked team in Tier II. The McNally Tigers (5-0) moved into Tier II’s top 10 with a 24-9 victory over the Archbishop O’Leary Spartans.
The St. Albert Skyhawks (3-3) are still the 10th-ranked team in Tier III while the Ardrossan Bisons (2-3) are No. 5 in Tier IV and Millwoods Christian (4-0) are No. 4 in six-man football after a 50-16 decision over the fifth-ranked Oscar Romero Ravens (3-1).
HOCKEY PANDAS LOSE TWO ON WEEKEND
The University of Lethbridge Pronghorns hockey team crashed the University of Alberta Pandas’ homecoming party with back-toback wins Friday and Saturday at Clare Drake Arena.
The defending Canada West divi- sion champion Pandas had trouble beating goaltender Alicia Anderson, dropping a 3-1 decision less than 24 hours after losing 3-2 to the undefeated Pronghorns on Friday.
Local first-year forward Alex Poznikoff finally solved Anderson with seven minutes to go in the third period when she blasted a shot past the goalie’s glove to pull the Pandas (1-3) to within two goals.