October is breast cancer awareness month. During the month, many around the hockey world take time to reflect and raise money for the cause. STU Athletics is one of those organizations committed to raising awareness for breast cancer.
On Oct. 21, the STU women’s hockey team hosted their second annual Think Pink game, partnering with the Chalmers Foundation to host the event. The team took on the Dalhousie Tigers.
During the game, STU got the party started early. Less than a minute into the first period, captain Ekaterina Pelowich scored a beautiful goal off a slick feed from her linemate, Nadia Lavoie. After the goal, the team held the lead for the remaining 59 minutes.
Although stressful, the Tommies defeated the Tigers 1-0, thanks to a 32-save performance from goaltender Chloe Marshall, who was named STU’s female athlete of the week.
“I wanted to give us a chance to win. My focus as a goaltender is [that] I want to play my best so that the five people in front of me can go out there and win that game,” said Marshall.
Marshall’s shutout improved the Tommies record to 4-2. She said that the team’s defense “did a wonderful job” supporting and blocking shots on the back end.
Marshall added that Think Pink and other Pink in the Rink initiatives are important from a community awareness standpoint.
“It was wonderful for us to be able to get out and do that earlier this year than we did last year and to have a representative from the Chalmers Foundation was wonderful to do the puck drop,” she said.
Before the game started, Charles Diab from the Chalmers Foundation came out to center ice for the ceremonial puck drop. Diab also told attendees about how the partnership benefits the organization, particularly those in the Stay Strong Cancer Support program.
Each player on the team wore a specially designed pink jersey, socks and pink stick tape.
“Sometimes the game is bigger than hockey and it means more than just going out there and winning,” said Marshall. “But it’s also just showing support for the community as well.”
“I think that it’s a fabulous way to get involved with the community,” she said.
Nadia Lavoie is a second-year forward and she thought it was nice to see the crowd support for the Think Pink game.
“It shows us how we can bring such a crowd out to support a cause and how much influence we have and power to do that,” said Lavoie.
She thought that the event showed how community-wise STU is highlighting how much the school cares about the organization and wants to make a difference in their community.
“It’s always nice to have partners and support and it’s important to us how [we are] able to show that we care and that we can have such great partners to help us do that,” said Lavoie.
