The fourth seeded Waterloo Warriors women’s hockey team finished fourth out of eight teams at their first ever 2024 Usports Women’s Ice Hockey Championships.
The competition took place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, from March 14 to 17. Things started out strong – the Warriors beat out the St. Francis Xavier X-Women 6-1 in the quarterfinal game on Thursday. Third year forward Tatum James managed to score a hat trick throughout the match, while fourth year netminder Mikayla Schnarr saved 20 out of 21 shots that came her way.
Saturday’s game saw the Warriors fall to the top seed and eventual champions, the Concordia Stingers, 3-1. James scored the lone goal for the Warriors, while Schnarr saved 37 shots on net. The Stingers outshot the Warriors 40-20.
The bronze medal game on Sunday put the Warriors up against the Montréal Carabins. The Warriors lost 2-1 in a shootout. The Warriors were leading almost the whole game – fifth year forward Brooklyn Cole put Waterloo on the board at 10:41 in the first period. It wasn’t until the third period that the Carabins capitalized with only 25 seconds left in the game, which brought the game to overtime. No team managed to score in those 10 minutes, so the game went into a shootout, where the Carabins secured the win.
When the competition was all said and done, the Stingers placed first, the Toronto Varsity Blues placed second, the Montréal Carabins placed third.
The 2025 Usports championships will take place at the Woolwich Memorial Centre in Elmira.
