The Rundown - U SPORTS Semifinals

Four teams were still vying for the right to add their name to the Golden Path Trophy. Four teams were looking to continue to play another day on the consolation side of the bracket. Saturday was all about semifinals after two intense days of hockey action, and we were likely going to get some great hockey action all day from UPEI in Charlottetown, PEI at the 2022 U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship! The final four teams all represented a different conference so everyone still had a team for which they could cheer, and we'd know who would be competing for the Golden Path Trophy and the 2022 Championship Banner by the end of tdoay's action. Let's see who did what on Saturday here on The Rundown!

The earliest game in the day saw the McGill Martlets meet the UBC Thunderbirds in their consolation semifinal match. As we know, McGill was stunned by UNB in their comeback victory while UBC was frustrated by Nipissing who didn't allow a goal. Both of these teams wanted one more day of action as Tricia Deguire was in the McGill net while Elise Hugens stood before the UBC cage.

This game saw both teams trying to notch an early goal as penalties came early, but a power-play for UBC saw Shay-Lee McConnell attempt a toe-drag, fall, and somehow still got the shot off that ended behind Deguire as McConnell lay on the ice as UBC jumped out to the 1-0 lead at 6:51. Six minutes later, the Thunderbirds doubled their score when Rylind MacKinnon was left all alone to pounce on an Ireland Perrott rebound, and she made no mistake by burying it past Deguire at 12:03 for the 2-0 lead. At the other end, Hugens was tested a few times, but she stood tall as UBC took the 2-0 lead into the first break after outshooting McGill 17-10 in the frame.

The middle frame was all about UBC's special teams, specifically their penalty-killing units, as they were guilty of five penalties to McGill's lone infraction. Hugens and the penalty-killers were solid for UBC, though, as they eliminated each of the penalties assessed to them. McGill's opportunities were there, but they simply couldn't capitalize on them. Despite outshooting UBC 11-6 in the frame, UBC still led 2-0 on the scoreboard and 23-21 in shots after 40 minutes.

With Hannah Koroll watching from the penalty box after her penalty from the second period carried into the third, Ashley McFadden would crash the crease on an Annalise Wong shot and it seemed that the puck bounced off Deguire, off McFadden, and ended up in the net as McFadden was credited with the shorthanded marker at 1:46 to give UBC the 3-0 lead! Midway through the period, Mia Bierd would find room in the slot with traffic in front, and she wired home a puck on the glove-side as UBC jumped ahead 4-0 at 10:53. From there, Hugens had more than enough offence to slam the door shut on McGill as the UBC Thunderbirds prevailed 4-0 over the McGill Martlets! Elise Hugens made 25 stops for her first win and shutout at Nationals while Tricia Deguire made 29 saves in a losing effort.

UNB awaits the winner of the Brock-UPEI semifinal game to determine the consolation side winner while McGill's tournament is over and will finish according to the results of the consolation final. The consolation final will happen Sunday morning.

Hihglights of this game are below!

The hosts in the UPEI Panthers met the OUA champions in the Brock Badgers in the second consolation semifinal on Saturday. UPEI found itself in this game after Concordia converted a touchdown on the Panthers while Brock ran into a stingy Saskatchewan team on Friday. Both teams were looking to extend their seasons one more day as Camille Scherger was in the net for the host Panthers while Tiffany Hsu was between the pipes for the Badgers!

The first period turned out to be a very quiet period in terms of the work for the scorers, but both teams were finding opportunities to score. None would turn out to be successful as both Scherger and Hsu looked sharp, so we'd head to the second period with the game still sitting at 0-0 despite Brock outshooting UPEI 9-5 in the period.

The second period would see the stalemate broken at the 12:48 mark with UPEI on the power-play. Jolena Gillard drove the net hard for the Panthers, and her shot found twine behind Hsu for the opening goal of the game as the Panthers held the 1-0 lead! UPEI stepped up their defensive efforts in the period as well as they limited Brock's looks at Scherger, and the final tally at the end of 40 minutes showed the effort as UPEI led 1-0 on the scoreboard and closed the gap in shots to a 13-12 edge for Brock.

The defensive between the Panthers and Badgers continued into the third period as that single goal held by UPEI loomed large. As time ticked down, Brock looked to score, but Jolena Gillard ended any hopes of a comeback when she netted her second goal of the game with 2:31 to play as the UPEI Panthers defeated the Brock Badgers by a 2-0 score in this game! Camille Scherger stopped 30 shots for her first win and shutout at Nationals while Tiffany Hsu was on the wrong side of a 16-save night.

UPEI will play UBC to determine the consolation side winner while Brocks's tournament is over and will finish according to the results of the consolation final. That consolation final between UPEI and UBC will happen Sunday morning.

Highlights are... non-existent for the hosts? How does that happen?

The first semifinal to determine who will play for a gold medal at the 2022 U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship saw the Nipissing Lakers, victorious over the UBC Thunderbirds, meet the UNB Reds who downed the McGill Martlets in dramatic fashion. Nipissing's defence would be in for a test against the scoring of the UNB, but the Reds had to cautious of the Lakers' solid play in their own systems. With a berth in the gold medal game on the line, Chloe Marshall was in the crease for the Lakers while Kendra Woodland was between the pipes for the Reds!

Both teams looked to establish the pace in this game, and, after a penalty was called on each side, things seem to settle down as both the Lakers and Reds began to play their games. We would see the game's opening goal just before the midpoint of the period as Emma Thomas' shot was stopped, but Madison Desmerais jumped all over the rebound left by Woodland as she chipped it past the Reds' netminder at 9:10 to give Nipissing the 1-0 lead! UNB's forecheck was slowed by a couple of late penalties in the period, and, as such, Nipissing was able to carry the 1-0 lead into the room while holding a 12-8 edge in shots.

Early in the second period, a long wrist shot from the point by Madison Solie pinballed off a couple of bodies in front and eluded Kendra Woodland as the Lakers grabbed a 2-0 lead at the 4:45 mark. Nipissing seemed to pick up the pace on their side after that goal, and they would continue to pressure the Reds by sending players to the blue paint and getting shots through to Woodland. That strategy would result in a third goal as Katie Chomiak's long shot was stopped, but Maggie McKee sent the puck cross-crease to Malory Dominico who redirected it into the yawning cage for the 3-0 lead at 15:22. Through 40 minutes of play, the Lakers held the three-goal cushion while outshooting the Reds 27-13!

Nipissing used the third period to lock down the defensive zone as they looked to protect the lead. UNB's chances were limited every time they crossed the offensive-zone blue line through good defensive play and players blocking shots while Nipissing clogged up the neutral zone to prevent the Reds from attacking with speed. The Reds, needing a big offensive push, chose to pull Woodland with more than five minutes remaining and while on the power-play, but Brianna Gaffney would hit the empty net to give the Lakers a fourth goal on the day. When the final horn sounded, the Nipissing Lakers had defeated the UNB Reds by that 4-0 score! Chloe Marshall recorded her second win and second shutout of this tournament with a 16-save night while Kendra Woodland suffered the loss after stopping 30 shots.

Nipissing awaits the winner of the Saskatchewan-Concordia semifinal game to determine the second team that will compete for the Golden Path Trophy while UNB will move to the bronze medal game and await the losing squad from the Saskatchewan-Concordia semifinal game. The bronze medal game will happen Sunday afternoon while the gold medal game goes in primetime!

Highlights for this game are below!

The second semifinal to determine who will play for a gold medal at the 2022 U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship saw the Saskatchewan Huskies, winners against the Brock Badgers, meet the Concordia Stingers who dominated the UPEI Panthers on Friday night. Would Saskatchewan be able to slow down the explosive Stingers offence while finding goals of their own, or would Concordia continue its dominance over its opponents since the calendar flipped to March? Camryn Drever was in net for the Huskies on this night while Alice Philbert guarded the cage for the Stingers!

If you're a Canada West fan, you know that the Huskies play solid defence, but the Concordia Stingers are different team. They came out of the game, established pace, brought the offence, and really shut down the Huskies in any sort of transition game. The good news is that the Huskies weathered the storm that the Stingers were mounting in the first period as we'd move to the second period still tied 0-0, but with Concordia up 16-5 in shots.

The second period felt a lot like the first period in terms of how Concordia carried the play, and it would pay off at the 3:10 mark when Audrey Belzile made a move around a Huskies defender and finished off her effort with a low shot glove-side to put Concordia up 1-0! The relentlessness of the Stingers continued to give the Huskies fits as they simply couldn't transition back down the ice, but the Huskies were standing tall in their own zone. A power-play late in the period opened the door slightly for the Stingers once more, and Maria Manarolis' deflection of a Rosalie Begin-Cyr shot eluded Drever's pad at the 16:20 mark to put Concordia up 2-0! That score would carry into the break, and it seemed like Saskatchewan had to throw caution to the wind in the third period with Concordia leading on the scoreboard and 29-8 in shots! No, that's not a typo.

Whatever Steve Kook said between the periods hit home because the Huskies were fired up for the third period. They took pucks to the net, they found shooting lanes, and they were peppering Philbert for the first time in the game. The only problem was that Philbert was equal to the task. Despite a late shot of the post by Sara Kendall, the Huskies simply ran out of time as they tried to smash the goose egg. The final horn would sound on a Concordia Stingers' 2-0 victory over the Saskatchewan Huskies on this night! Alice Philbert stopped all 20 shots she faced for her second win and second shutout in this tournament while Camryn Drever made 37 saves in the loss.

The gold medal final is set as the sixth-seeded Nipissing Lakers will battle the top-seeded Concordia Stingers for hockey supremacy in 2022! Saskatchewan will meet UBC in the bronze medal game as those two teams seek some hardware as well. The bronze medal game will happen Sunday afternoon while the gold medal game goes in primetime!

Highlights of this game are below!

The updated brackets for the 2022 U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship are below. Please note that McGill and Brock are not competing for the seventh-place spot, so they are not shown on the brackets. They will be placed accordingly based on the results of the fifth-place game.

There are just three games on Sunday with the fifth-place game going early, the bronze-medal game happening in the afternoon, and the gold-medal game goes in the evening. If you haven't done it yet, tomorrow would be the time to check out the CBC Sports website where all of these games can be found. The best women's hockey teams in the nation - Nipissing and Concordia - will battle for bragging rights for at least a year. Tune in and watch it!

The Last Word

Tomorrow will be the last entry for The Rundown in this 2021-22 season of U SPORTS women's hockey, and I want to thank each and every one of you who stopped by to read recaps, watch highlights, get news, and occasionally comment on the games played out in Canada West and through to the 2022 U SPORTS National Women's Hockey Championship. You guys make this fun for me.

Everyone asks me why I do this. My answer is always the same: these women deserve to put on display for their athleticism, skill, and dedication. Despite Hockey Canada's insistence in recruiting Team Canada players from the NCAA, there's always hope that one of these amazing U SPORTS athletes will get the call for the red-and-white. I know Hockey Canada has scouts in the crowd in PEI, so I'd expect them to be keeping an eye on all the players who skated at the tournament this week. With any hope, one of these spectacular athletes will be in a Team Canada camp soon.

There were a lot of amazing things that happened in Canada West alone this season: the Huskies have the first full-time radio broadcast of their games thanks to Daniella Pontacelli and the HuskieFan app, the first all-women broadcast for both home and road teams in both the regular season and the playoffs happened in Winnipeg when the Huskies met the Bisons, Howie Draper and Steven Kook both hit important milestones in their coaching careers, Trinity Western and MacEwan showed that they're ready to compete in Canada West, the Mount Royal Cougars showed they're going to be a force, the Huskies proved they have one of the best netminders in the nation, and the UBC Thunderbirds claimed the Canada West banner.

All of those news-worthy items should have made your local newspapers and media, but I doubt they did. Let's not forget the fact that Anna Purschke was recognized for her community service in the Calgary area, or that Jana Headrick's community work in Fredericton grew the game for a pile of girls aged 6-10. Let's not dismiss the five former Lethbridge Pronghorns women who are competing for National Championship medals tomorrow, once more proving that what the Pronghorns were building was going to be special. And let's not discount the efforts each and every team took this season in not only completing a season being played during a pandemic, but did so with only postponing a handful of games.

If you're asking why I do this, it's because I always find myself in awe of these women. They're holding down impressive GPAs in order to play hockey, playing hockey at the highest level possible offered in this country, generously giving their time back to their communities, and, somehow, still have social lives while practicing and working on skills daily.

The broadcasters are always digging into players' stories, finding stats and figures to make their broadcasts better, and working alongside these athletes and programs to bring you their stories. The coaches are dedicated and committed to their athletes and programs while spending time recruiting and budgeting for their teams. The staff behind the scenes organize flights, plan bus rides, sharpen skates, fix equipment, fill water bottles, plan meals, tend to injuries, and keep players on the ice. The parents of these players and the alumni of these programs help to raise funds, volunteer at program events, and are the support system the players lean on away from the ice.

If you ask me why I do this, it's because everyone listed above - players, broadcasters, coaches, staff, parents, and alumni - keep me in awe when it comes to the amazing things the university women's hockey programs are doing in this country. I simply count myself as one of the luckiest people on the planet that I get to be involved and see it first-hand while bringing you the stories and information from other programs across this country. At the end of the day, more informed players, fans, and programs can push this game higher yet.

Thanks for reading, folks, and always know that I can be reached at any time via comments below, email on the link at the top of the page, or via Twitter if you want to chat some hockey. There's one day of hockey left in this season, but let's work together and make 2022-23 an even better season than this one!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!