Martlets Hold The Fort

Congratulations go out to the new CIS Women's Hockey Champions in the McGill Martlets. The ladies from McGill University won their first Canadian Interuniversity Sport title after defeating the Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks 2-0 on Monday night. The sold-out crowd of 1000 people at the University of Ottawa Sports Complex were treated to a dandy game between these two teams, and all the women should be proud of themselves.

Cathy Chartrand, who was named tournament MVP, and Ann-Sophie Bettez scored the goals for the Martlets while goaltender Charline Labonté made 23 saves for the shutout. The Martlets dominated their opposition through the tournament, going 3-0 in the three games they played while outscoring their opponents 11-0.

"We all gave our heart all season long to get here and win this game," Chartrand said to the Ottawa Citizen. "It was an amazing game, and that award is just a bonus. We all deserved it."

Charline Labonté is certainly well-versed in big games. Labonté was one of the Canadian goaltenders in Torino, Italy that won a gold medal in women's hockey. After losing to the University of Alberta Pandas last season 4-0, Labonté showed her mettle by helping McGill capture the first championship for any of the university's women's sports programs.

In the bronze medal game, the University of Manitoba Bisons repeated as the bronze medallists, defeating two-time defending champions and Canada West rival University of Alberta 4-2. It was the third bronze medal in the Bisons' eleven-year history, recording third-place finishes in 2007 and 2005 along with this season's bronze medal.

Meghan Ross, Leanne Kisil, Chantal Larocque, and Stephanie Messner scored for the Bisons, while Miranda Miller and Leah Copeland scored for the Pandas. Bisons' goaltender Dana Hoogsteen picked up the win. Pandas' goaltender Dana Vinge took the loss.

In the fifth-place game, the host University of Ottawa Gee-Gees collected their first win in two years at this event and finished fifth in the six-team tournament after a 7-6 shootout victory over the St. Francis Xavier X-Women.

The Gee-Gees made a remarkable comeback after the X-Women jumped out to leads of 5-0 and 6-1. Three third period goals forced overtime, and Erika Pouliot scored the shootout winner for the University of Ottawa.

Kimberly Kerr recorded a hat trick for the Gee-Gees while Christine Allen, Amber Foster, and Joelle Charlebois all had singles. The X-Women got scoring from Jacinta Sullivan, Lindsay Brown, Amanda Church, Catie Gavin, and Brayden Ferguson with a pair of goals.

Congratulations to the McGill Martlets for their first women's hockey championship in school history! The ladies from the six participating teams will undoubtedly be looking to compete for Olympic and World Championship roster spots after their university careers are over, and it appears that Hockey Canada will be stocked with talent for many years to come.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!