The Golden Girls

Canada faced Japan today in the gold medal game at the 2023 FISU World University Games, and the end result was as this writer expected: Canada has won the gold medal! That's not to say that Japan didn't give Canada headaches at times, but the Canadians were able to overcome the Japanese attack to find enough time and space to outscore their opponents. While the final score may have been 5-0, this was a Canadian team that simply outworked, out-chanced, and out-skated their opponents in all seven games in this tournament. Canada is the FISU women's hockey gold medalists!

Once again, Canada seemed to start off slowly as the score through the first period of play was 0-0, but Canada certainly looked like they were prepared for the game in outshooting the Japanese team by a 14-3 advantage. Canada had a pair of power-plays where they had chances, but Miyuu Masuhara was solid in the Japanese net. As the period rolled into the break, it felt as though Canada was in control of the game.

Just 1:16 into the second period, Montreal's Audrey-Anne Veillette would break the deadlock on a bit of a broken play, but she would find the puck off the blocked shot and backhand it by Masuhara.
With assists going to Waterloo's Leah Herrfort and SMU's Shae Demale, there's no doubt that this line has been one of Canada's best all tournament long, and Veillette's goal-scoring prowess will be on display this March when the Montreal Carabins host the U SPORTS National Championship. I suspect people will be keeping an eye on the Carabins forward after her amazing tournament in Lake Placid!

Another player who has been on fire this tournament for the Canadians has been Nipissing's Maria Dominico, and she announced her presence in the gold medal game in a big way at the 6:01 mark.
That's an incredible individual effort from Dominico, but we saw her play like this last season in helping Nipissing win the U SPORTS National Championship silver medal. She's showing that same hunger for the net that she had in the OUA playoffs, and that should be good for the Lakers down the stretch in the OUA. Toronto's Celine Frappier and Bishop's Marie-Camille Théorêt picked up assists on the goal as Canada went up by a pair.

Minutes later, Japan was trying to kill a 5-on-3 shorthanded situation, and Canada's offence simply would not be stopped as they had a number of good looks before StFX's Maggy Burbidge fired home her own rebound at 9:27 of the second period.
Burbudge is the AUS leading scorer and U SPORTS' leading scorer, so seeing the puck on her stick usually means a red light is going to be lit shortly. The one-timer off a pass from Montreal's Annabel Faubert - uncredited with an assist on this play - following the chance by Alberta's Madison Willan had the Japanese defence scrambling, and Burbidge cashed in her own rebound before the Japanese defence could recover. Make it 3-0 for Canada.

Canada has trailed just once in this tournament - in the semifinal against Slovakia - and has not lost in the tournament. They have the top goaltending statistics and the best defensive statistics as a team, so Japan's task over the final 30 minutes of the game wouldn't be easy. It would be arrogant of me to say the game was over at that point, but the odds were certainly stacked against the Japanese. So what happened, you ask?

Toronto's Celine Frappier scored an unassisted goal at 10:50 of the second period to make it 4-0, and McGill's Elizabeth Mura scored Canada's fifth goal off a feed from Audrey-Anne Veillette at 4:44 of the third period. From there, UNB's Kendra Woodland was required to stop just two more pucks sent her way as Canada controlled the puck, controlled the play, and, ultimately, controlled the game in the gold medal final en route to the gold medal celebration. Cross that one off the bucket list, ladies!

Players from four conferences within U SPORTS came together. They include:

• AUS: StFX's Maggy Burbidge and Lea MacLeod, SMU's Shae Demale, and UNB's Jenna MacLean and Kendra Woodland.
• RSEQ: Concordia's Rosalie Bégin-Cyr and Emmy Fecteau, Montreal's Annabel Faubert, Kelly-Ann Nadeau, and Audrey-Anne Veillette, Ottawa's Aurélie Dubuc, McGill's Elizabeth Mura, and Bishop's Marie-Camille Théorêt.
• OUA: Waterloo's Carley Bossé-Olivier and Leah Herrfort, Nipissing's Maria Dominico, Guelph's Hannah Tait, and Queen's Scout Watkins Southward.
• Canada West: Saskatchewan's Isabella Pozzi and Camryn Drever, and Alberta's Madison Willan.

We can't forget the coaching staff who were directing this symphony of wins either as Ottawa head coach Greg Bowles, UNB head coach Sara Hilworth, Wilfred Laurier head coach Kelly Paton, and Guelph head coach Katie Mora all deserve a pile of credit. Along with general manager Daniele Sauvageau from Montreal, UNB's goalie coach and video coach Kyle MacDonald, and Waterloo's athletic therapist Jacqueline Schwantz, this is the management and staff of the gold medal-winning Canadian squad!

It should be mentioned that the Slavic bronze medal game between neighbouring Czechia and Slovakia happened earlier tonight. Czechia's Sandra Halounova opened the scoring at 16:37 of the first period while on the power-play. Lucia Haluskova tied things up for Slovakia just 1:01 into the second period, but Czechia's Karolina Kosinova responded 50 seconds later to restore the one-goal lead. University of Vermont's Kristyna Patkova made it a 3-1 game for the Czechs when she scored at 9:02 of the third period, and that was more than enough for Czechia on this night as they captured the bronze medal with a 3-1 victory!

I also need to give a big shout-out to Manitoba referee Amy Martin who called the bronze medal game. Amy's one of this province's best officials, and I wouldn't be surprised if she's calling games in men's professional hockey at some point. She's smart, she's very observant, and she manages the game well. Her repeated invitations to high-profile international events is a testament to her talents, dedication, and passion for officiating, and it's awesome to see her as part of the 2023 FISU World University Games!

Overall, this was a highly-entertaining tournament played by some of the best and brightest university hockey players on the planet. I take nothing away from any of the countries who appeared at the 2023 FISU World University Games because each of the qualified to be there, and all played with the heart and courage of champions no matter what the odds were that may have been stacked against them. Canada may have won the tournament, but every team showed up and played well in every game. You can't ask for much more than that as a hockey fan.

Congratulations go out to Canada, Japan, and Czechia who won the gold medal, silver medal, and bronze medal, respectively. The Canadian women will return to their respective teams at this point to rejoin playoff races with conference playoffs a month away. The likelihood of some of these players meeting in their conference playoffs is good, and there's a chance that we could see some of them face off against one another in Montreal at the 2023 U SPORTS National Championship. For 60 minutes, they'll try to eliminate one another, but they'll always have these last two weeks as teammates where they shared an incredible bond and brought home one of university sports' biggest awards.

Congratulations on an excellent tournament, ladies!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!