Serena Anagbe / Photo Editor
The women’s team player #9 on the ice
The Wilfrid Laurier University hockey season is well underway with the second tournament of the year at Fanshawe College on Jan. 25.
Both the men’s and women’s teams are looking to build off solid performances in their opening tournaments of the year, which took place in November at Humber College.
“The season so far has been pretty good,” said Lorna Rynard, a second-year applied health science student and member of the women’s hockey team.
Rynard and the rest of the women’s team are looking to build off their strong efforts in the opening tournament of the year in the upcoming tournament in London.
“We have had more time to work on our positioning when breaking out of our end, which we struggled with in the last tournament,” Rynard added.
On the men’s side, the team is looking to improve on their strong showing in November, which saw the group finish the tournament with back-to-back wins and a 2-2 record to end the day.
“So far, I believe that this season has been going well and that our team is showing a lot of potential and skill,” said goaltender and fourth-year criminology student Justin Murchison, who stole the show in the final game of the November tournament, surrendering only one goal in a 2-1 victory over Canadore College.
“Everyone is working hard on improving their skills and maintaining an edge needed to win games,” added Murchison. “I think we just have to use our experiences from the last tournament to help us with this one coming up.”
With the hockey season well under way, first-time players on both the men’s and women’s teams have had a chance to learn important skills when it comes to playing extramural hockey.
“A lot of our team is made up of newer guys who were still learning the ropes of the league,” said Murchison. “Now that they know the level of other teams and what’s needed to get a win in this league, it should help us get the results we are looking for in this next [tournament].”
Both teams battled hard in London, with the men’s team finishing the tournament with a 1-2 record. In their sole victory of the day, the boys took down Centennial College in a 5-2 win, highlighted by defenseman Matthew Chiu and rookie Ethan Firsoff both scoring their first goals as members of Laurier’s hockey team.
On the women’s side, the team played well all day long and while they did not win any games, they did earn the tournament’s Fair Play Award.
Laurier Brantford’s hockey teams look to finish off their strong seasons in the final tournament, which will take place on March 1 here in Brantford.
