This Friday, Oct. 5, the Varsity Blues women’s hockey team will take to the ice and kick off the 2007-08 season. Following last year’s bronze medal fi nish in the OUA Championships, the team is gearing up for what they anticipate will be another successful season.
The Blues hope to continue the success they achieved at the end of last year’s campaign. As the 2006- 07 regular season came to a close in February, the team found themselves leapfrogging over the Queen’s Golden Gaels into the second spot in the OUA. Fittingly, it was the Gaels they met in the semi-fi nals, and though the Blues outshot their opponents, Queen’s prevailed 2-1 when the fi nal buzzer rang. Despite their obvious disappointment, the women put forth a valiant effort in the bronze medal game against the Guelph Gryphons and walked away with the hardware, thanks to Emily Patry’s overtime winner.
Karen Hughes, returning bench boss, said that this year’s roster will have a good mix of returning players and fresh faces. Defence appears to be the team’s strength, with a plethora of returning blue-liners that include fifth-year Sarah Poirier, thirdyear Lyndsey Ryan and second-year Ali Foster. Jill Clark, team captain and OUA All-Star, will be the anchor on the back end and the clear leader of the group. New additions Kelly Setter and Bianca Mirabelli will fi t in nicely with the already solid group, said Coach Hughes.
The team’s forward contingent is getting an infusion of youth and energy with Karolina Urban, Lindsay Hill, Amanda Fawns, Brenley Jorgensen, Alanna Komisar and Nayima Neerdaels. The newcomers will not only provide scoring, said Hughes, but will also act as two-way players, a vital component of any winning team. The rookies will compliment the returning forwards Emily Patry, Laura Foster and Annie Del Guidice. And the team is very excited to have Stephanie Lockert back in net.
All in all, although it is a bit early to tell, Hughes is sure that this year’s group seems to be a better skating squad than last year’s, and with the addition of the aforementioned forwards, they will have a better touch around the net. Hughes’ principle concern is specialty teams, which she hopes will improve with practice.
Last season’s achievements can easily add pressure for the team, but Captain Clark said this is not the case.
“As a group we like to think in the present,” she said. “We certainly can learn from last year and build upon it. However, we do not like to compare ourselves to what we were. Rather, we like to focus on what we need to do now to become the best possible athletes we can become.”
