Women fare well at CIAU tourney
Beth Mullen

Leaving the 1998/99 season behind, the Women's Varsity Hockey Team will walk away as one of the most talented and successful athletic organizations at Laurier this year.

With an OUA championship, three OUA all-stars and an All-Canadian all-star amongst their list of notable accomplishments, the Golden Hawks finished fourth at the CIAU Championships at Varsity Arena in Toronto this past weekend.

"All in all the CIAU's were a great experience. Overall, the weekend was a success!" commented fourth year veteran and team captain Jen Krog. "So much of our success this past weekend and this season has to do with our coaches leadership, dedication and belief in our team."

After a significant 2-0 win against the McGill Marletts on Thursday afternoon, the Hawks finished second in their pool behind the Alberta Pandas and went on to play the Toronto Varsity Blues in the Bronze Medal match on Sunday afternoon.

Winning the opening face-off of the second period during their first game against McGill, Hawks forward Caroline Hall gave WLU the lead with a power-play goal assisted by Kim Shillington.

"Hall played incredible this weekend and was a huge asset to our team," noted Hawks coach Josh Batley on Hall's outstanding performance during the tournament.

Donna Forbes, who will be leaving the team after this season, came on strong tipping a shot by all-Canadian forward Lisa Backman in to the net past McGill goaltender, and Team Canada member, Kim St. Pierre. The Hawks came out victorious as there was no scoring for the rest of the game.

Contributing to the Hawks noteworthy defense throughout the game, Cheryl Pounder received the Player of the Game distinction for her outstanding play.

Going into a challenging game against the Alberta Pandas on Saturday, the Golden Hawks seemed to have lost the spark that carried them to a shut out the game before.

Scoring the first two goals of the game, the Pandas took the lead early into the first period. With 36 seconds left in the period, Caroline Hall, who was eventually acknowledged as the Hawk Player of the Game, stepped up and scored for the Hawks off a pass from Pounder.

Alberta managed to score again in the second, increasing their lead to 3-1. A disallowed Hawk goal scored by Pounder mantained the Panda lead at two heading into the third.

The Hawks manged to cut this defict to a lone goal when the duo of Hall and Pounder duplicating their first goal brining the Hawks to only one point behind Alberta in the third.

Ending the game on a power-play as the result of an interesting 'illegal curve of the stick' penalty, the Hawks came close, but coud not manage to score the equalizer, falling to the Panda's and relegating themselves to the bronze medal game.

"The third period was the only time when we played really well and it cost us," notes Batley.

The game ended with Alberta ahead by one and a bronze-medal match berth for the Hawks against the hosting Varsity Blues.

This match-up proved to be as challenging as previous games against Toronto this season. The only goal of the game was scored by Toronto on a power-play at the end of the second period.

A swift up-ice pass by Pounder might have been useful this game but unfortunately the Hawk defensewoman was absent. Pounder decided to practice with Team Canada in preparation for a Team USA match-up that took place on Monday evening.

The Hawks have faced Toronto previously with and without Pounder and the challenge in going up against the Blues remains a mental issue for the team as a whole.

Cheryl's presence was missed as would any key player's absence have been similarly felt during a national competition such as the CIAU's.

Although Pounder would have been an asset to their defense, the Hawks functioned well as a team during the bronze-medal game without her in the line up.

The Hawks have proven their ability to do this earlier in the regular season as they went 11-2 while Pounder was involved in try-outs and games with the national team.

Toronto remained in the top three Canadian teams for the second year in a row and the Hawks, for the first time in Golden Hawk Hockey history, finished up the season placing fourth in the nation.

"This accomplishment is outstanding and nothing to be ashamed of. I am proud of the season as I would expect the rest of team to be as well," comments Batley. "There are about 22 other teams who would love to be in our spot."

Battling it out for the top spot in Canada, Concordia and Alberta settled the match with a 2-0 shut-out in favor of the Concordia Stingers. The Stingers remain CIAU champions ahead of the Alberta Pandas in the silver spot and the Toronto Varsity Blues in third, a step behind their second place finish last year.

The Hawks will go on to defend their OUA title next year looking to add the depth to the team that is essential in competing at the national level.

"Because our team lacked depth this year we relied heavily on our first two lines. Our lack of scoring was definitely a weakness for us this weekend.

"Our top three scorers weren't scoring and it hurt us", comments Batley, "next year we have to look to create a team of highly skilled players whose basic skills (skating and shooting) are strong."

The future Hawks will go on to play with many of their players that were key to the success of the team this year. Jen Krog, Cheryl Pounder, Charmaine Boteju and Donna Forbes will be graduating this year, and will be sorely missed.

"I was honored to be the team captain this year. I have to thank to all of my team-mates who made my last year as a Golden Hawk memorable. Our incredible success this year only means a bigger and better future," comments Krog on the her season with the Hawks.

The season might be over for the WLU women's hockey team but their achievements will continually be recognized as an example of what WLU athletics are about. In terms of skill, leadership, commitment and spirit the women not only reflect what any university could ask of a Varsity team but what any team could ask of its athletes.