The St. Thomas University women’s hockey team is looking forward to the Atlantic University Sport playoffs this year after clinching a spot. The team is 16-10, with two games remaining in the season.
The girls in green and gold are currently sitting third in the AUS women’s hockey standings.
Tommies’ head coach Peter Murphy, believes that the St. Francis Xavier X-Women (StFX) and the University of New Brunswick Reds (UNB) will be a challenge for STU in the playoffs.
“It still depends on where you finish [the season.] This could all change,” he said.
Trailing STU by a point each are the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus and the Dalhousie University Tigers, who could both be possible first-round opponents.
“It’s hard, anybody you face is going to be good. Even though StFX and UNB will get the [first round] bye, it still depends on where you finish and who you’re going to get. There’s a lot of shuffling around,” Murphy said.
Forward Jordan Chaulk agrees with Murphy, acknowledging the fierce competition that awaits them.
“There’s no team that we take lightly … because everybody is really strong and anyone can play on any day for sure,” she said.
Murphy believes that the keyword for the team this year was “parity.”
The Tommies were great defensively last semester by cutting down chances from other teams in their own zone, along with increasing the amount of shots they take.
“Converting those shots into actual goals is the next step of that,” he said.
Along with strong shot-taking and defensive mindsets, the players are great at performing as and facing special teams.
“We’re in the top three in both, so we’re pretty comfortable with that, as well during the first term,” he said.
“We’re really trying to focus on putting the puck in the net while playing a strong defensive game,” she said.
Chaulk believes that last semester the team came together on the ice.
“We were able to create [a] lot of offensive which is something we’ve struggled with in the past,” she said.
Tommies forward Aimee O’Neal agrees with both Murphy and Chaulk that more scoring chances will be a deciding factor in the team’s upcoming playoff run.
Playing her first year with STU after transferring from St. Mary’s University, O’Neill thinks that the team needs to be consistent while playing all sixty minutes to be successful in the playoffs.
“If we take a foot on the gas, any little bit, it will give the other team a chance. We just need to keep it on for the whole 60 minutes,” she said.
She thinks that they were a tough team to play against every game last term.
“We made it a close one, or if we didn’t come out on top, it was definitely a close one,” O’Neill said. “We worked together really well, using each other on the ice and finding each other.”
Chaulk is excited to see what the playoffs have in store for the Tommies.
“I’m sure we’re going to give whoever we’re playing a really good round … It’ll be great hockey for sure,” said Chaulk.
