COLD LAKE – Over the weekend, Lakeland girls' hockey saw a triumphant end to their 2021-2022 season with two teams earning medals at Hockey Alberta Provincials.
The Lakeland Jaguars U18 Female B team hosted the division's Hockey Alberta Provincial Tournament over the weekend at Cold Lake Energy Centre.
Taking on the Girls Hockey Calgary (GHC) Inferno on Sunday morning, the Lakeland Jaguars U18 B team dominated the ice winning the semi-finals match 9-0. The Lakeland Jags then moved onto the gold medal game.
Sunday afternoon, the Jags took on the Lloydminster Blazers in the gold medal match, which the Lakeland team won 4-0.
“Lloyd came out to play, their goalie was amazing. In the first period, I think we probably had three breakaways and a lot of high danger chances, and she held them in there,” said Jay Hall, the head coach for the Jags U18 team.
Coming back from a shut out in the first period, Lakeland Jaguars Sydney Desjarlais was the first to put up a point on the board for the home team during the second period.
With ongoing difficulty to get the puck past the Blazers' line of defense and goal minder, Hall says the Jaguars endurance and continued pressure was how the team was able to take the lead and hold it.
“Our girls, like all year, they just stuck with it. Just kept going and going and finally broke them down,” he described.
“We have a very fast team that forechecks hard and back checks and we stuck to that game plan. And the girls' work ethic with the speed we have – it just overwhelms teams, and usually second and third are our periods.”
Once in the lead, the Jags stayed in control of the game earning three more goals in the third period. Berry Lynn Rosychuk scored the teams second and fourth goals.
Scoring the Jags third goal of the Provincial gold medal final was Faith Donovan.
In a season marred with an unimaginable loss, the U18 Jaguars have managed to go undefeated since the Christmas break and have gotten stronger and stronger as a team.
“It was a tough start to the season with our head coach passing away,” Hall acknowledged referring to Jaguars Coach Darrell Desjarlais.
“But the girls dedicated this season to him and had a goal and they stuck with it. They were driven. They wanted to win this for Darrell.”
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The provincial gold medal victory means the end to the 2021-22 season and the end of youth hockey for three of the Jaguars senior players.
“It's been fun to watch. I'm just glad to be a coach and be along for the ride,” said Hall. "The rest of the team is coming back, so they will have another strong season next year.”
U13 Female B Jaguars
In Calgary, the Lakeland Jaguars U13 Female B team had played in their own Provincial gold medal match against the Irma Aces on Sunday afternoon.
While the U13 Jags did not see the same level of success, losing 4-0 to the Aces, they did skate off with silver medals at the 2022 Hockey Alberta Provincials.
“Apparently it was a really good game. Their goalie made some big saves... but for our girls to even get a silver medal. It's awesome for them,” said Hall relaying information from Jaguars’ coaches returning home from Calgary.
“All year long they have battled with Irma because we're in the same league,” noted Hall. “(The U13 team) tied them twice. We beat them once and we've lost twice to them. So, we had an idea it would be us and them in the final.”
U15 Jaguars
A third Lakeland Jaguars team also made it to the provincial tournament.
The Lakeland Jaguars U15 team won one game and lost two during their provincial tournament. Unfortunately, the team was not able to move on to the playoff round.
However, Hall points out “It just shows how strong girls' hockey is in this area of the province.”
