From SooLeader.com
By Neil Moran
LSSU’s women’s hockey team is on its way to the National Tournament in St. Louis, Missouri after winning the championship game of the Central Collegiate Women’s Hockey Association (CCWHA) tournament held in Flint over the weekend. They beat Sault College 2-1 in a Sunday afternoon thriller to take home the coveted trophy and win the league title.
“It was a huge weekend for us in that all four of the games we played were really competitive,” says head coach Matt Parker. “It was a total team effort, there was scoring across the board, our power play was good, our penalty kill was good.”
The Lady Lakers started the weekend out by beating Sault College 6-1 on Friday night, a game that was closer than the score indicated, according to Parker. Saturday evening Sault College came from behind and tied Northern Michigan University 4-4, while the Lakers beat Adrian College. Sault College beat Adrian as well which set up Sunday’s championship matchup.
Lady Laker Sophie Jeremko was named MVP for the tournament. The win guaranteed the Lakers a trip to the nationals, which will be held starting Tuesday, March 15, through Saturday March 19.
Only in its first full year as an ACHA Division 2 women’s team, the Lady Lakers team is currently ranked number one in the nation.
They are doing it, in part with a roster that features a number of girls from the area.
The Lady Lakers offer a chance for local girls to play much closer to home. Girls have been playing on boys teams in the Sault area for years, but many eventually go out of town and even out of state to play on all-girl teams.
“We have great female hockey players locally and to give them the opportunity to stay home and go to a school like Lake State, it’s just great,” says the 37-year-old Parker, who is now in his 18th year of coaching, but only the second year of coaching girls.
Parker says it’s been somewhat of an uphill battle getting a women’s program going at LSSU. He started with the Men’s Division 2 program in 2015-16 and then saw it die on the vine, as it wasn’t funded by the university at the time. He heard about the opportunity to coach the women’s team in 2020, smack dab in the middle of COVID.
“Things didn’t go the way we wanted (the first year) but at that point we were able to get our feet wet and learn about ACHA hockey, ” says Parker. “Now we’re in our first full year and things are going really well, the girls are working really hard and we’re the No. 1 team in the country.”
One local girl who is as happy as a hat trick to be playing locally is Halle Maclachlan. Maclachlan is a hard charging forward from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Maclachlan was recruited by LSSU after her plans fell through to play for the University of Windsor, due to COVID.
“I was scrambling trying to figure out what I wanted to do,” says Maclachan, who started playing hockey at the age of three . “And then the athletic director called me and said they were starting this team.” She says it’s a “dream come true” to play locally, pursue the degree she wanted, and be able to have her family come to her home games at Taffy Abel Arena. .
The program has found its legs and funding with Parker hired as full time coach for the ACHA girls team and assistant with the ACHA Men’s team. Steven Kaunisto, a former defeceman for LSSU with 10 years playing at the professional level is the head coach of the ACHA men’s team and assists with the women’s team.
“It’s been unbelievable, the university and (Laker Men’s hockey coach) Damon Whitten have been an immense support; they want these girls to succeed,” says Parker. “It’s like a dream come true, to be in my home town and be part of the university I grew up with, to add to that history.”
Parker says he has had girls on his boys teams over the years but never coached an all-girl team. He says he finds it more rewarding than coaching the boys.
“I think it’s their dedication to the sport and academics, they don’t want to be embarrassed, they don’t want to lose,” he says, adding: “They don’t let their ego get in the way, like having to be the leading scorer, it’s the unity, they pull for each other.”
Playing in unity and stopping a lot of shots is Heather Lamb out of St. Ignace. Lamb was one of Lake State’s top prospects for her defensive skills. Lamb had left the area last year to play at St. Norbert in Wisconsin and came back when she found out about the Laker women’s program.
“I’m able to get the same degree and play hockey closer to home,” says Lamb about coming to LSSU. Like a lot of girls, Lamb has played all over before settling here at LSSU for her collegiate years. “I love it, it’s a lot of fun, we have good team chemistry.”
One thing that Parker says has led to the success of their team is the memory of Katie Robinson, who was killed in a tragic automobile accident at the beginning of the season.
He says Katie “goes with them everywhere.” They take her jersey from game to game and wear Katie stickers on the backs of their helmets.
“When you go through something like that as a team, it is heart-breaking and tragic; it gives you a different perspective on life and how things can change quickly,” says Parker. “It gives us a real feel of our mortality and that life is short and we can’t take anything for granted. The girls play every shift like it could be our last or any day could be our last.” He added that if they’re having a bad day or bad period they get back to playing how they would for Katie.
Parker says they set a goal at the beginning of the season to be one of the best teams in the country and win the league title. They’re also making history as the first Division 2 women’s hockey team and adding to the rich history of hockey at LSSU.
“It’s good to know we’re going to be a part of something bigger than ourselves,” says Lamb. “We can build a strong foundation for girls that come after us.”
(Originally published at https://www.sooleader.com/local-sports/lady-lakers-part-of-something-bigger-as-they-head-to-national-championships-5115213)
