Laurier Brantford’s women’s extramural hockey team will be hosting the OCCCR Challenge Cup this season has a showcase event including the province’s top teams. The tournament will be held on March 10 and 11.

Laurier has played in three tournaments this season, and also hosted a regular season tournament on Feb. 5 in which they finished a season-best sixth place. The team struggled in their consolation final, but as the fourth game of the day, the team appeared fatigued. With the tournament being held over two days at the Gretzky centre, the team’s depth will not be tested as much allowing the stars to play more.

The team improved on their tie for seventh in their first tournament of the season while playing at home which is a positive sign for future improvement.

Laurier will continue to lean on the play of Shannen Head who lead the team with four goals in four games when Laurier hosted their tournament. The leadership of Captain Samantha Keen will also be crucial as the team faces the challenge of playing elite teams. In goal will most likely be Madison Scott, who had a 2-1 record while playing on home ice earlier this year.

Laurier will be playing host to the University of Toronto-Scarborough which was the only team to win multiple tournaments this season. The other schools to win tournaments this season were Fanshawe College and St. Lawrence College-Cornwall. Also participating will be Mohawk, Fleming, Georgian and Sault, which are ranked four through seven in the OCCCR rankings. Laurier ranked fourteenth after the season, but with a first-year coach in David Crumpton admittedly still learning to maximize his roster, the team has a chance to improve on past results.