Forever As The First

This young lady is none other than Kayla Munro. Kayla's been mentioned on this blog before when she suited up for the Simon Fraser University men's hockey team in their preseason game against the Okanagan Lakers. I made mention of it in October 2021 because she officially was the first woman to suit up for any game in the BCIHL at that time when she played in the preseason game between SFU and Okanagan Collegiate. I had speculated at that time that she'd likely be the first woman to play in a regular season game as well, but we'd have to wait until the regular season began to see when that time would come.

The answer, as it turns out, was Feburary 5, 2022 as the Simon Fraser University men's hockey team met those same Okanagan Lakers tonight. Kayla Munro didn't start the game for SFU, but she was sitting on the bench in the backup role to starter Cale Dolan when SFU exploded for goals. Takato Cox scored at 5:32 and 9:19 to stake Simon Fraser to a 2-0 lead before Garrett Hilton cashed in a power-play goal at 17:12 to put SFU up 3-0 before the first break. It wouldn't be enough to get Kayla into the game just yet, but Simon Fraser had the three-goal lead entering the second period of play.

Mitch Ledyard would make it a four-goal cushion with a power-play goal at 5:17 before teammate Mateo Coltellaro added another power-play marker at 11:35 to make it a 5-0 SFU lead. Takato Cox would finish off the hat trick at 13:52 to make it 6-0 before Ty Banser got one back for Okanagan at 18:29 to cut the lead to 6-1 through 40 minutes of play. Would a five-goal cushion be enough for a goalie change?

The answer to that question is a resounding "yes" as Kayla Munro started the third period in the Simon Fraser blue paint! She officially became the first woman to skate in the BCIHL when the puck was dropped for the third period of action between Simon Fraser University and Okanagan Collegiate! How cool is that? Good on Kayla Munro for stamping her name in the history books, but there was still a period of hockey to be played. Let's see how she did!

Kolton Leslie scored on Munro at 1:29 to make it a 6-2 game. Nick Wicks restored the five-goal lead at 5:44, but Juanre Naude scored a power-play goal at 9:44 to make it a 7-3 game. Things got a little more interesting when Zach Gabruch scored at 14:55 to make it 7-4, but Nick Wicks scored at 16:59 to make it an 8-4 game. Gabruch would beat Munro once more at 18:01, but the final horn would sound on an 8-5 SFU win over the Okanagan Lakers!

Munro's final line saw her make nine saves on 13 shots in 20 minutes of work, giving her a 12.00 GAA and a .692 save percentage. She doesn't earn the win despite giving up four goals either as Okanagan never tied the game up, but she's in the history books as the first woman to skate in the BCIHL. And while those stats won't win her any major awards, the jitters that came with the "you're in, Munro" announcement from head coach Mark Coletta between periods likely would make her forget about any and all numbers for a few days.

If you want to hear more about Kayla, Sportsnet650 did an interview with her back in September, and she talked about her hockey career, settling into the SFU hockey team, and more!

Let me be the first to congratulate Kayla Munro on her historic moment as she smashed through a ceiling no one likely ever thought would be ssmashed. Forget the stats and forget the score - none of that matters at this very moment. Instead, let's celebrate Kayla's moment and the fact that she helped SFU to another win on a season that's already proving to be pretty special in BC!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!