Laurier moves into second place
Trevor Hilker

On Sunday night, the Laurier Golden Hawks women's hockey team was looking to move into second place. Their obstacle was the York Yeowomen. Laurier's game plan was to attack York every time they touched the puck and to not let them get a decent shot on net. As it turned out, The Hawks game plan was successful as they controlled the entire game and allowed York few legitimate scoring chances. The Hawks, on the other hand, managed to create a number opportunities, capitalizing on three of them, giving them a 3-0 victory. Hawks goaltender Charmaine Boteju collected the shutout, in what head coach Josh Batley describe as being one of her best games this season.

Although there was no scoring in the first period, the Hawks tried a number of times to bulge the twine, but were unable to fire one past York goaltender Stephanie Slade. The closest Laurier came to scoring in the first period is when forward Caroline Hall rung a couple off the crossbar.

The second was also controlled by the Hawks and they wasted no time in creating excellent scoring chances. Their first chance came when forward Lisa Backman took a slap shot from the face-off circle and rang it off the crossbar just above Slade's glove hand.

Laurier finally got on the board with a power play goal by Hall at the 5:30 mark of the second period. Hall found a loose puck in front of the net and shot it through a crowd of players in the crease. She was assisted by Backman and Marie Hahn.

Just 44 seconds into the third period, the Hawks added to their lead, making it 2-0 when Donna Forbes sent Backman in on a breakaway and she scored top shelf. Team captain Jennifer Krog also recorded an assist on the goal.

York however, did not give up as they created a few of their own chances including Amy Parliament who tried to go far side on Boteju, but was denied by her right pad.

The Hawks finally sealed the victory when forward Heather Allan was hit with a pass by Ashley Colter, who walked in all alone and fired one far side on Slade to take a commanding 3-0 lead. Just minutes later, Boteju made the biggest save of the game when she came diving out at Shanley White to poke-check the puck away to preserve the shut-out.

After the game, when asked about his overall impression of the game coach Josh Batley said that it was "fabulous." "The team really put forth a solid effort from top to bottom," commented a thrilled Batley, adding that when they made mistakes they were corrected right away.

"If they played like that every night, I would be estatic," said Batley. The entire coaching staff gave a lot of credit to the entire defense core.

The Hawks have a trio of home games in the coming days. Tonight's action is against Guelph, followed by Friday and Saturday evening games versus the Windsor Lancers. All games start at 8:30pm at The Waterloo Memorial Arena (The Bubble).

Cheryl Pounder to be honoured

A ceremony will be held before tonight's game versus Guelph to honour this Golden Hawk, a member of Canada's gold medal winning Three Nations Cup team.

"To have a player of Cheryl's calibre is great because it raises the level of everyone's game," commented Batley.

The Three Nations Cup was waged in early December in Finland. Competing countries included host Finland, the United States, and Canada.

Pounder's selection to the team proved to be critical to Canada's success, as she was named player of the game in the teams first matchup versus the United States.

Backman leads the way

The Hawks currently boast three of the top five leading scorers in the OUA. Forward Lisa Backman continues to lead the league with 21 points, racking up 13 goals and eight assists 11 games. Pounder and Jenn Krog round out the top five. Pounder's seven goals and eight assists give her 15 points in just nine games. Krog has recorded three goals and 11 assists, for 14 points over 11 contests.