Women’s hockey season ends
author: nathan mccarville | sports writer
Team faced two close 2-1 games against the Pandas/Arthur Images
Loss to Alberta concludes the year
The Cougars women’s hockey team has finished the season after they were unable to emerge victorious against the University of Alberta Pandas during the Canada West Quarter Finals. As such, it brings a lucrative season to a close. The Cougars were able to consistently bring home a win throughout the season, having had 10 wins throughout the regular season over the 28 games that the Cougars have played in.
In the first game, the University of Alberta Pandas controlled the events on the ice for the duration of the game, holding onto their two-goal lead on the Cougars until the last minute of the game when the Cougars’ Jaycee Magwood scored at the last possible moment of the game to prevent the game from being a shut out for the Pandas. During the game, the Cougars made 15 attempts on the Pandas’ goal, with one hitting the mark and getting passed the Pandas’ goalie, Kirsten Chamberlin. In contrast, the Pandas had 21 shots on goal, 19 of which were saved by the Cougars’ goaltender Jane Kish.
In the second game of the series, the final outcome of the game seemed identical to the first, though it was nothing but. Of all the Pandas to score, it was Deanna Morin and Amy Boucher who were able to that night, with Boucher getting a goal halfway through the first period, while Morin was able to score soon into the second period, further securing the Pandas chances of moving onto the Canada West Semi-Finals. However, the Cougars’ own Sam Geekie was able to score in the last period when the clock struck 12:15, with Martina Maskova and Merissa Zerr each having an assist in their statistics for their helping hands in Geekie’s goal. Throughout this second game, Cougar goaltender Morgan Baker had 16 saves throughout the game. The proof of the Cougars resolve can been seen in the stats, the Cougars never once stopped their press, shown in the 23 saves that the Pandas’ goaltender had throughout the second game of the series.
Getting into contact with Sam Geekie, a second-year defender, she was able to give some insight into the women’s hockey team and the final game against the Pandas.
Looking back on the season, how do you feel about how the team performed throughout the regular season?
Looking back, our regular season certainly wasn’t as strong as it could have been. We are a very young team and we had a really good start going neck and neck with the top teams in USports. After Christmas, we certainly had a skid, but it didn’t put us in any worse of a position.
The last game played against the Pandas featured an especially strong offensive from the Cougars with 24 attempts on the Panda’s goal. What do you think caused this increased drive?
I think what caused our offensive drive was we knew what was on the line, our season. Being the underdogs with nothing to lose, no one was ready to be done just yet, which I believe is why we left it all on the ice. With our captain, Kylee Kupper, having to watch her last playoff series from the stands, we played our best to try and make sure it wasn’t her last playoff series, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.
How did you feel when you scored the last goal of the game against the Pandas?
I honestly was surprised when the puck went in the net, I had full intentions of just getting it past the Alberta girl that was kneeling to block the shot, my goal was to throw it into a position for our forwards to work with it. I’m super glad it found its way to the mesh though! It has been a challenging season being moved back to defense for the first time in four years, so it was a good way to cap off the season.
