They marched onto the ice with the theme from Hockey Night in Canada playing in the background and an enthusiastic fan banging away on his drum. The crowd was small in number but very vocal in supporting their team.

These fans gathered at Varsity Arena on Friday night to watch the Varsity Blues women’s hockey team face off against the Mississauga Ice Bears in the opening match of the 2002 Marion Hilliard Tournament—a three-day exhibition tournament before the official OUA season. The Blues were up against severe competition, as the Ice Bears are a Senior AAA team that play in the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) and have four players with national team experience.

Blues head coach Karen Hughes showed confidence in her team’s ability to compete against such mighty opposition: “We have four strong lines that can go out there and compete. There is not much difference in terms of skill between them.”

In goal for U of T was fifth-year student and university hockey veteran Allison Houston. For the visiting Ice Bears, the net-minding duties were given to Keely Brown.

The first period started in a flurry of excitement, with good scoring chances coming at both ends of the ice and solid end-to-end play by both clubs. The lone goal of the period was scored by Blues forward Jill Savin at 16:25 after a beautiful set-up by Jenny McRae.

Mississauga made the most of its four shots in the second period by scoring two goals. Kim Malcher was able to tie the score at 2 before the end of the period, though, scoring with just under seven minutes to play.

The pace in the third period was just as frantic, but yielded no goals for either side, ending the contest in a 2-2 draw. Keely Brown, from Mississauga, was named player of the game, while Deandra Locicero was honoured on the Blues squad.

A noteworthy performance was also put forth by Jenny McRae, who displayed excellent speed and set up multiple scoring chances with quick, accurate passes.

“We got a good quick-start in the game. Sometimes we start slow,” said Lisa Robertson, Blues backup goalie for this game. “We were not intimidated by older players and players that have been on the national team.”

When asked for a prediction on the upcoming season, Robertson was not humble in her forecast: “I think we have a really good chance of winning the OUA title this year. All the other teams in our division have become stronger this year, but so have we.”

Coach Hughes was proud of the effort her team gave against the Ice Dogs, stressing that the team had good speed and good energy on the ice. But she also shed light on the areas she thinks need to be improved in order for the Blues to succeed.

“We need to continue to work on the offence,” remarked Hughes. “Our power play needs to be better, obviously, as well.” The power play was the only area the Blues struggled in on Friday, not being able to score on six chances and giving up a couple good short-handed chances in the process.

The first regular-season Blues game is at York on October 23.