After a banner raising ceremony to celebrate last season’s Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) win–the first since the 2014/15 season–the women’s hockey team kicked off their home opener with a bang, defeating the Olds College Broncos 6-3. This puts them at an impressive 2-0 start, after a 4-2 win at Olds on Oct. 10.
The action got underway quickly.
Olds College got on the board first after a goal from Kaebree Young just two minutes into the game. But the Ooks responded quickly with a pair of power play goals from Payton Basterash and Hanna Paquette to put NAIT up 2-1 after the first period.
The Ooks fired 21 shots on Olds goalie Hailey Sibbald in the first period and added another 23 in the second. The Broncos simply could not keep up with the blue and gold’s barrage; Hannah Paquette, Abby Bryant, Sidney Kobi and rookie Greir Slabaida found the back of the net to increase NAIT’s lead to 6-1 heading into the last 20 minutes of the game.
Olds College fought back in the final period. Zenith Vanstone and Emerson Stuparyk scored two to cut NAIT’s lead in half, but it wasn’t enough for the Broncos to overcome the deficit. The Ooks cruised to their second victory of the season, starting their title defence with a 2-0 record.
Overall it was an electric home opener. NAIT fired a total of 63 shots on the Broncos’ goalie Hailey Sibbald. On the opposite end of the ice, the Ooks’ goalie Aurora Van Wormer stopped 23 shots.
The Ooks’ penalty kill and power play units were very effective. The powerplay allowed for three goals on eight chances, while the penalty kill held Olds College to just one goal on 5 shots.
Head Coach Brendan Jensen spoke with the Nugget post-game and expressed his satisfaction with how the team has performed through the season’s first two games.
“It feels pretty good,” he said. “It was a good step for the group tonight throughout our process and journey together, and we had a pretty good crowd here at the nest at home.”
“It’s great to see family, friends and alumni attendance for a big night, not only for the home opener, but for the banner raising ceremony too, celebrating a bit of last year, and it was nice to see the team perform for a full 60 out there.”
One of the team’s new faces, Greir Slabaida scored a goal for the first time in her ACAC career and became the first rookie this season to score for the Ooks. It seems the process of integrating the recruits into the lineup has gone smoothly so far, and the team will continue to rely on the newcomers as the year goes on.
“Our veterans have done a great job. The 12 returners that we have in the lineup. And then those eight rookies that are able to be in the lineup night in and night out have done a fantastic job so far … meshing with the veterans and then also performing on their own and proving that they can play at this level,” said Jensen.
If the team keeps this level of play up, they are poised to contend for another ACAC title. However, Jensen is staying level-headed about the hot start. He explained that the team’s mission is to focus on being in the best position for the playoffs to compete for a title once again.
“It’s nice that we’ve started this way. I think it’s about ultimately where we end up, and what I really like is how diligent we’ve been in our daily process in order to be prepared for these first two games,” Jensen explained. And after a promising start, Jensen is prepared to keep this momentum rolling into next week.
“It’s going to be even more crucial that we’re diligent in how we’re preparing. It’s a short week with Thanksgiving as you only have three practices, and then it’s a long bus ride, about six hours down there [to Medicine Hat]. So I think it’s going to be us getting to the rink and making sure that we’re prepared, and then off the ice, getting those bus legs out and then going out there and executing well in all three zones, just like we did this weekend.”
The Ooks will travel to Medicine Hat for two games on Oct. 18 and 19 before returning home to face Red Deer Polytechnic on Oct. 25 and 26.
