The Varsity Blues women’s hockey team played the Waterloo Warriors on January 25, and the game marked a special occasion. Fifth-year goaltender Nicole Kesteris was recognized before the game, as this will be her final season with the club. She proceeded to shut out the Warriors, earning her fiftieth career regular season win.
Last year was stellar for Kesteris. She was named an Ontario University Athletics (OUA) first team all-star and a Canadian Intercollegiate Sport (CIS) first team all-Canadian. Kesteris also won the CIS and OUA Marion Hilliard award, which celebrates excellence in athletics, academics, and community involvement. For her amazing season, she was recognized as the Varsity Blues female athlete of the year, being the first goaltender to ever receive the award.
Kesteris will compete for the Canadian women’s hockey team at the Winter Universiade in Granada, Spain this week.
The Varsity: What led you to choose to play for U of T?
Nicole Kesteris: I’m a homebody, so I like to stay as close to home as possible. I’d had options to go play D-1 at the States, but it was also important for me to have my parents to be able to watch my games on the weekend. Going at Brown or Boston would be difficult for them. So U of T was good in that sense, but it’s also a great school, and academics was also important to me as well.
TV: What is it like to be considered “one of Canada’s best female goalies” by your coach?
NK: This league is so competitive, anyone could win. There are a lot of great goalies out there. It means a lot to me, and I really appreciate all the work Vicky [Sunohara] has done for me and pushed me to be a better goalie. I wouldn’t be where I am today without my team, my parents, the support, Vicky, everyone.
TV: What is it like to represent Canada in the Winter Universiade? Any goals for the tournament?
NK: It’s always a dream, especially as a little girl playing, wanting to represent Canada at some level. Although I may never make the Olympics, for me, this is my Olympics and I’m very proud and very honoured to be a part to that. I would really like to win that gold.
TV: Does competing for a national championship help with dealing with expectations placed on you in this event?
NK: There’s definitely expectations for Team Canada; I think we’ve never not won gold. So there is a lot of pressure and expectations in that sense. But for me, it’s a brand new experience and something I want to go out and have fun with and have a lot of memories.
TV: The team is second in the standings with five games left. What are the team’s goals heading into the end of the season?
NK: Grab a point or two points from every game. As I said before, this league is so competitive, anyone could win anyone could win any game. We need to go into each game thinking that we can win and we should win, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work.
TV: Being your final year with the Varsity Blues, what was your experience with the team like?
NK: Amazing! I talk about all these opportunities in the States and there’s not one moment where I regret not going to play D-1 hockey. I would never take back that decision and it has been the greatest time of my life.
TV: What do you think is in store for you after graduation?
NK: It’s amazing how much wear and tear there is on your body, especially playing goalie. I’ve played in every game, except for one, and there’s a lot of pressure on the body. So I’m kind of looking forward to a break, maybe go play in Europe, I’m not sure. I’m definitely leaving these doors open.
