Women's Hockey Story

Trojans sweep the Queens

Curtis Taylor

Polytechnic Press

After a slow start to the season, the SAIT Trojans women’s hockey team seems to be back to their championship form.

The defending ACAC champion Trojans won back-to-back games for the first time this season, sweeping their two game series with the Red Deer Queens.  They capped it off with a 3-2 come from behind overtime victory at home.

“The four points was huge, it put us in a spot where we can head into the second half of the season in second place.  It showed determination within the team to come back and win those games when we were down,” said captain Rylee Scott

With the score tied 2-2 in the extra frame, Melanie Vincent emerged from the corner looking for the cross crease pass to Lindsay Audia.  The Red Deer defender played pass all the way, allowing Vincent to the front of the net untouched where she deposited a backhand high over the blocker side.

“I thought Mel showed great composure, she is one of our senior players and she showed it on the ice,” said Larson.

“She knew to make eye contact with Becca in front to make the defender over commit, and that opened the ice for her.  She was looking at all her options, and showed her experience on that play.”

With 11 new players on the team this season, the Trojans knew it would be difficult to develop chemistry early on.  But 10 games into the season, the girls feel much more comfortable with each other both on and off the ice.

Head coach Terry Larson says that slow starts are nothing new to the Trojans.  Because most of the programs at SAIT are only two years in length, it means that players do not have as much time to play together.

“If you look at every year, it is usually around Christmas time when we really start gelling as a team,” said Larson.

After juggling through line combinations the first half of the season, the Trojans now have set lines and defense pairings and this newfound chemistry has translated into wins.

“We are starting to get more consistent with our lines and D partners so there is more chemistry on the ice,” said Scott.

The Trojans now sit at 4-4-4 on the season, well within striking distance of first place Mount Royal. 

With two more games remaining before Christmas, the Trojans look to keep their winning ways heading into the break.