Northern Lights Arena will host the third Annual Battle on the Bay girls 19U and women’s College hockey tournament this weekend beginning on Friday.

The 19U division will feature the following 10 teams from Michigan: Cheboygan, Midland, Traverse City, Bad Axe, Petoskey, Calumet, Grand Rapids, Marquette, Houghton and Alpena.

The 19U division will compete in a three game round robin on Friday and Saturday followed by consolation games and the championship game on Sunday for the Sanctuary Cup.

Alpena is hoping to improve on its 1-3 finish in last year’s tournament.

The Women’s college division will feature four teams: Lake Superior State University, Northern Michigan University, Michigan State University, and Davenport University. On Saturday, Northern Michigan plays Michigan State at 12:30 p.m. Lake Superior and Davenport will square off at 2:30 p.m.

The winning teams will play each other on Sunday at 1 p.m. while the runner-ups will meet in the consolation game on Sunday at 11 a.m.

Former Alpena Warriors player Megan Martin is a sophomore forward for Davenport and LSSU is coached by Alpena youth coach Lori Seguin.

This will be the largest girl’s 19U hockey tournament in Michigan this year, surpassing the MAHA State Finals that will also be held in Alpena next March.

“This tournament provides high school age girls an opportunity to compete in front of college coaches. Because of the four women’s collegiate games, participants from 19U teams will be able to see the competition at the next level,” Alpena coach Jake Martin said. “Having 10 girl’s teams and 4 collegiate women’s teams sharing the ice at NLA is a huge victory for AHA and Alpena.”

The tournament games are free to the public and you can find a tournament schedule online at alpenagirlshockey.org/botb2015 or contact Northern Lights Arena at 358-0652 or northernlightsarena.com.