With regionals on the horizon, the Sault College women’s hockey team couldn’t be entering the event on any better of a roll.
The team will begin the three-day event on Friday in Burton, Mich., with a perfect 22-0 record and among the top-ranked teams in American Collegiate Hockey Association play.
Prior to the season, Sault College coach Brianne Shunock was optimistic about her team this season after playing in the national championship a year ago.
Shunock said she’s most proud of the players ability to juggle any adversity that has come their way in terms of injuries or just general distractions as well.
“That’s a strong testament to the players that we have and how they’re able to come to the rink and leave everything else behind,” Shunock said.
After a 2021-22 season that saw them advance to the national championship and finish a win away from a playoff berth at the event, Shunock said that Sault College’s returning players came back with a good mentality.
“The most important thing is the returning players that we have,” Shunock said. “All of the girls that came back, they were ready. They saw what it was like to experience nationals. They did well at nationals when we had a short bench and it wasn’t really something that was on our radar for last season making it as far as we did. They came in in September very positive and very motivated knowing that we had a stronger team coming in thanks to recruiting and having senior players.”
Shunock added that, while the team has had a long run of success this season, the focus has remained on the games immediately in front of them after wins.
“We’ve been pretty motivated all year focusing on the games at hand,” Shunock said. “We’re happy about the weekend games and the wins, but when Tuesday practice starts, we’re focusing on our next competition.”
Shunock also said the players have done a good job avoiding letting their record get the better of them.
From an experience standpoint, Shunock credited the likes of veteran forwards Olivia Barsanti, Marie-Pier Lecours, and Emma Lee for their leadership this season.
Mixed in with the experience, Shunock noted the ability of the first year players to make the adjustment to life in college hockey.
“For everyone to come in who has experienced being on the power play, being on the penalty kill and getting that extra ice time now coming into a team where that was expected of everyone growing up, that can be a lot for them,” Shunock said.
“That’s before you even add in the academic factor for them,” Shunock added. “They’ve come from two years of COVID high school where they’ve been at home and now they’re in the classroom. They’re trying to make sure that they’re getting their grades up and being eligible to play.”
Among the first year players, Shunock credited the likes of Brooke Brazeau, who has been among the ACHA’s rookie scoring leaders, and Camille Venn, who is one of Sault College’s top scoring defencemen this season.
Shunock said a non-conference series with Assiniboine, who knocked them out of the national championship last season, in mid-January was highly anticipated and a measuring stick for both clubs.
“It was huge,” Shunock said. “We were waiting for that series ever since we lost to them at nationals. For both teams to be so successful and get to have a weekend of high-quality games was important for both programs.”
Shunock added that the weekend non-conference series was of interest for both teams because of the early-season success both programs were having to that point.
“Whether we came out with a win or a loss, our record (in the series) didn’t matter as much as us being able to find mistakes in our game against a team that was going to really control the game more than other teams that we’ve played against and put us in uncomfortable situations,” Shunock said. “The wins were amazing. It was an extra bonus for us. Those are two wins we felt really proud of.”
Sault College won the opening game of that weekend set by a 2-0 score before securing the sweep the following day with a 4-3 win in overtime.
Sault College will open regionals this weekend on Friday afternoon. Following the tournament, the top teams in the ACHA’s four regions will earn invites to nationals, which begin on March 16 in Marlborough, Mass.