National championship the experience of a lifetime for Stevenson

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

While the Brock University Badgers women’s hockey team may not have had the tournament they would have liked, failing to find the back of the net in both of their games, Walton’s Allison Stevenson says being part of the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship was the experience of a lifetime. 

Brock lost to the University of Saskatchewan on Friday, March 25 by a score of 4-0 and then again on Saturday, March 26 in their consolation game against the University of Prince Edward Island by a score of 2-0.

After returning to Ontario late on Monday from Prince Edward Island, Stevenson spoke with The Citizen on Tuesday morning, calling the experience “amazing to be a part of”, especially as a first-year player. To be part of a history-making season for the program that engaged past members of the team, she said, really makes her want to continue to build that foundation for future generations of players as they had done for her team.

Stevenson said the level of competition at the tournament was high and every team deserved to be there, though she thought it was similar to what her team faced in Ontario over the course of the regular season. Many of the tournament’s games were close, she said, and could have gone either way.

Concordia University would go on to win the 2022 U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship, defeating the University of Nipissing Lakers in the gold medal game to earn the school’s first Golden Path Trophy since 1999. The Stingers shut out the Lakers by a score of 4-0 in the final game of the tournament.

The Brock University Badgers had defeated the Lakers in the Ontario championship when both teams punched their tickets for the national championship.

The University of Saskatchewan beat the University of New Brunswick in the bronze medal game by a score of 2-0.
This came after the University of Saskatchewan team lost to Concordia in the semifinal round by a score of 2-0. Nipissing beat the University of New Brunswick in the other semifinal game by a score of 4-0.

The University of New Brunswick beat McGill in the first quarterfinal game of the tournament by a score of 5-4 in a shootout, while the University of British Columbia fell to the University of Nipissing Lakers by a score of 1-0. The University of Saskatchewan then beat Brock the following day by a score of 4-0, while Concordia beat the University of Prince Edward Island in the final quarterfinal match-up by a touchdown, 7-0.

While Brock lost its consolation game against the University of Prince Edward Island by a score of 2-0, the University of British Columbia beat McGill by a score of 4-0.

With the season now behind her, Stevenson says she hopes to continue building on her hockey career with the team, saying she’ll play for them “as long as they’ll have me” and that she’s already looking ahead to the 2022/2023 season.