Moose Jaw hockey fans were treated to another night of top notch hockey from the best prospects in the West at Mosaic Place for Day Two of the Western Canada U16 Challenge Cup.

Alberta moved closer to going to their second straight Cup Final, while the host Saskatchewan squads Gold Medal hopes move further away.

Alberta 2 BC 1

Alberta took sole possession of first place at six points with a hard fought 2-1 win over Team BC in the earlier game on Friday.  The loss dropped BC into third place with two points.

Moose Jaw Warriors first round pick Brayden Point added to his tournament lead by scoring with a goal and two points in the opening period and that was enough as Alberta held on.

First overall pick Jake Virtanen scored his second goal of the tournament with seven minutes left in the third, but they couldn’t beat goalie Jordan Papirny, a first round pick of the Brandon Wheat Kings.

Alberta outshot BC 28-19 in the win, and can clinch first place with a win over Saskatchewan on Saturday morning at 11am.

Manitoba 7 Saskatchewan 3

Team Manitoba moved into second place on the strength of 39 saves from goalie Ty Edmonds in a 7-3 over Team Saskatchewan.

Jordan Thomson got Manitoba on the board early in the first period, but Saskatchewan responded midway through with goals 29 seconds apart by Tim Vanstone and Brayden Oleksyn, the second of the tournament for both.

Manitoba closed out the first period with goals from Adam Brooks and Taylor Fisher to take the 3-2 lead into the break.

Saskatchewan started the second period with a new man in net as Rylan Parenteau replaced Generals goalie Grant Naherniak.  Despite being a man down, 1:12 into the frame would tie things up on a goal by Jordan Harris, but Manitoba came back late in the period again, as Ryley Lindgren restored the lead at 4-3 into the second intermission.

Team Sask continued to fire away on goalie Ty Edmonds in the third and he stood tall, facing 13 shots in the period.

The turning point came midway through the third when Clayton Tait snapped a shorthanded goal for the 5-3 lead and Manitoba would roll from there with Dallas Starodub and Lindgren’s second for the 7-3 win.

Saskatchewan will take on Alberta on Saturday morning at 11am and BC squares off with Manitoba at 3pm.

Tickets for both games are available at the Mosaic Place box office or click here.  You can also tune in live at DiscoverMooseJaw.com.