By Owen Kitzan – Sports Editor

            A 2-0 series sweep of Université de Montréal in the first round of the playoffs saw B.U pitted against powerhouse Concordia for a road to the finals. The Stingers came into the matchup having only lost one game all year barring an exhibition game against Boston University and looked like Goliath in the path of Bishops.

            As the puck dropped on game one both teams came out looking to apply pressure on the other side. Concordia struck first with Bishops managing to knot it up halfway through the first. The Stingers found the back once more to lead 2-1 after one period. In the second Bishops found some life and tied the game up at 2-2 off a quick goal from Amélie Brassard. Concordia looked to build upon their earlier momentum however, potting two more goals to boost their advantage up to three goals before B.U would strike to bring it back within two goals to end the second. The Stingers would score one more to seal the deal as a late goal with 17 seconds left in the game by Noémie Fontaine would prove to be too little too late and Concordia took game one 5-4.

 In game two the Gaiters returned to the swamp for a home game with the home crowd on their side. B.U came out flying in the first and boasted a 2-0 lead after the first off of goals from Gabrielle Santerre and Maude Pépin. In the second period Jordanne Laforme would score another for B.U before Concordia would strike for the first time of the game and bring the game to a 3-1 score heading to the third period. In the final frame Noémie Fontaine would finish off the Stingers and hand Concordia their second loss of the year in a 4-1 Gaiters win. Éricka Gagnon stood tall between the pipes, turning away 31 of the 32 shots she faced.

With the stage set for a do-or-die game three the Gaiters travelled to Ed Meagher Arena to take on the Stingers one last time. With both teams’ seasons on the line the stakes were unbelievably high with fans from both sides filling the stands. Concordia scored their first a minute into the game to put the pressure on Bishop’s who immediately responded three minutes later with a tally from Gabrielle Rousseau. Those two goals would stand as the only one’s scored in the first period as things remained deadlocked 1-1. In the second the Gaiters would find some more magic through the sticks of Justine Turcotte and Neleh Vigneau Sargeant to increase the lead to 3-1. Concordia potted one more past B.U to end the second period with the Gaiters leading 3-2. The third period would prove to continue to go in favor of Bishops as Justine Turcotte buried her second goal of the game followed by Annika Lafrenière to make the score 5-2 for B.U. The Stingers responded by scoring one of their own but it wouldn’t be enough as Annika Lafrenière slid it into the empty net for her second of the game and secured a 6-3 win to send Bishops to Nationals!

The team traveled down to Elmira Ontario where the 8 team national bracket was set, with the Gaiters drawing the UBC Thunderbirds in round one. In the first period, Maude Pepin would find the back of the net to open the scoring early. Late in the first, the Thunderbirds would strike back, leaving the game tied after one period. Halfway through the second, Gabrielle Santerre would find the twine, only for the Thunderbirds to once again find the answer and leave the scoreboard reading 2-2 after the second period. In the third, UBC would strike first, getting their first lead of the game, before Annika Lafrenière tied it up with 32 seconds left in the third to keep the Gaiters season alive. In overtime, B.U captain Gabrielle Santerre would play hero and score the game-winner to send Bishops to a semi-final matchup versus the University of Toronto. 

Now down to the final four teams, the puck dropped between the Gaiters and the Varsity Blues. Intensity reached a new peak. B.U managed to find the first goal of the game to gain momentum on a power-play strike from Majorie Bolduc, assisted by Justine Turcotte and Noémie Fontaine. The score remained 1-0 Bishops until early in the second, when the Gaiters trio would again connect for a goal with Noémie Fontaine being the goal scorer this time around. These two goals would prove to be enough as the Varsity Blues would only manage to squeak one goal past goaltender Ericka Gagnon who saved 24 out of 25 of the pieces of rubber she faced. 

Now with all their hard work finally coming to fruition, the Gaiters had reached the moment they had been dreaming of and preparing for all season. The only thing standing between them and being U-Sports women’s hockey national champions was the University of Waterloo Warriors. The first period saw neither team score, as both teams waited for the other to make a mistake they could capitalize off of. It wouldn’t be until halfway through the second that the game would see its first goal as Gaiters captain Gabrielle Santerre found the back of the net once again. This would remain the lone goal until Gabrielle Rousseau boosted the B.U lead to two goals off an assist from Santerre late in the third period. An empty netter from Maude Pepin giving Santerre an assist again and her third point of the game would officially seal a Bishop’s U-Sports nation title! Gabrielle Santerre would be crowned MVP of the national championship and BU would attain their first national title in program history.

            A huge congratulations goes out to the women and coaching staff who put in tremendous work all year which finally culminated in Bishops being champions. Go Gaiters!