Badgers ready to roll
The Brock women’s hockey team head into the Ontario University Athletics season with high expectations, question marks, and excitement for the future.
“I think we have to potential to be very good,” head coach Margot Page said. “It might take a little bit of time through this season, but the future looks amazing. The future looks fantastic.
“This year, honestly, our goal is to always make playoffs so that’s what we want to do. It’s very hard to make playoffs in our league.”
The Badgers begin the 2019/20 season on the road in Windsor Friday followed by a game at Western Saturday. Brock hosts Queen’s for their home opener on Friday, Oct. 25 at 7:15 p.m.
Page’s optimism is based on a nice blend of veterans and first- and second-year players.
Amanda Ieradi, who finished second on the team in scoring with eight goals and 17 points in 24 games, is back for her final season. Second-year forward Cassidy Maplethorpe is also looking forward to building off her 14-point campaign, which ranked third among Brock scorers.
Other returning forwards are all-star Annie Berg, Carley Blomberg, Hunter Accursi, Niamh Haughey, Kiana Tobia, Kat Whiteye and Morgan Dezell.
“The newcomers are solid,” Page said. “They are like sponges right now and are getting amazing leadership from our more veteran players. They are fitting into our lineup well and are the reason behind our balance and depth.”
The new forwards are Claudia Murphy, Sarah Brooks, Mishayla Christensen, Mikayla Flanagan, Emma Irwin and Hannah Ryan.
The defence is anchored by Paige Cohoon, Kaitlyn Colonna, Bailey Brooks, Rebekah Feld and Amelia Lackie while Faren Susi, Lauren Diks and Avery Vickers are newcomers on the blueline.
Page thinks the key to the season could be the development of the younger players.
“It’s really tough to tell right now because we are young. A lot of our players are first and second year but we are really relying on our veterans to lead the lead the way. We’re kind of in that limbo spot where not sure,” she said. “When our first and second years are playing confidently, we’re very good. Then you have the inconsistencies of young players where you’re not sure what you’re getting shift to shift and game to game.”
One area where the Badgers are set is in net with the return of Jensen Murphy for her fifth and final season. The senior netminder was named an OUA all-star last season.
Murphy led the OUA with 807 saves, which ranked second in U SPORTS. She finished third in the province with a .944 save percentage, which was also good for third among all Canadian university goalies with 20 or more starts.
Murphy also helped Brock secure a spot in the postseason thanks to her league-high 13 wins.
“Having her come back for a fifth year was a pleasant surprise,” Page said. “It was wonderful and obviously it’s going to help us. We do have good goalie depth. We’ve been playing them through the exhibition (season) and everybody has been playing really well.
“Having Jensen back is just that calming nature. She has that fifth-year experience and that kind of leadership, especially between the pipes, is invaluable.”
Page said the Badgers are still developing their identity.
“We’re just taking about that as team,” she said. “I think we know where we want to be as a team. It’s just a matter of being that consistently. Our team always prides itself in being able to compete and having that hard work kind of aspect of things.
“We are a very aggressive and physical team. We are a pretty quick team and I think if you look at it right now we’re not a very strong defensive team, but we need to be. We’re doing a better job of scoring but our defensive games needs to improve and at will.”
One of Page’s biggest challenges will be balancing development and results early on.
“You don’t want to get behind too far but you also have to really work on developing and making sure you are still playing well later on,” she said. “You don’t want to not develop your younger players or inexperienced players because in the long run it hurts you.
“If you go for a run in the second half, you’re going to be good as well. If you can stay at .500 and then go on some runs in the second half, you’re going to do fairly well.”
SUPPORT US
On the right side of our web site, you will notice a yellow SUPPORT US button.
We are asking anyone who finds value in our work and is able to financially help us to click on the button and contribute whatever amount you feel is appropriate and can afford. There is no set amount. Any amount is appreciated.
The funds collected will be used to enhance and offset the expenses of running the web site.
