Three players, with ties to the U of S women’s hockey program, are silver medallists at the World University Winter Games.
Former captain Kaitlin Willoughby plus current defenceman Leah Bohlken and goaltender Jessica Vance suited up for Canada in a 2-0 loss to host Russia.
Plus, U of S middle distance runner Julianne Labach is the Canada West Conference second star of the week after picking up three medals and a national award at the U Sports championships last weekend. Following are the news releases from Huskie Athletics…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 12, 2019
Huskies’ trio claims silver for Canada
By U SPORTS Communications
The Canadian women’s hockey team won the fourth medal for Team Canada at the 29th Winter Universiade after capturing a silver medal in a close 2-0 result for host Russia in the gold medal game.
Two current and one former member of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team played large roles for team Canada.
Forward and former captain Kaitlin Willoughby, defenceman Leah Bohlken and goaltender Jessica Vance all took centre stage in representing their country at the international level.
Canada wins silver against Russia for the third consecutive Universiade (3-0 score in Granada, Spain in 2015; 4-1 result in Almaty, Kazakhstan). The U SPORTS all-stars had also previously won gold at each of the first three FISU tournaments in 2009 (Harbin, China), 2011 (Erzurum, Turkey) and 2013 (Trentino, Italy) and now have been in seven straight Universade women’s hockey finals since it was introduced as a medal sport in 2009.
What a nail biter of a game.
The Canadian women’s hockey team (4-1; playoffs: 1-1) played stride for stride with host Russia (5-0; playoffs: 2-0) but could not find the back of the net in a contest that was 0-0 until almost halfway through the third with an empty-netter at the end.
Captain Kaitlin Willoughby (Saskatchewan; Prince Albert, Sask.) reflected, “Definitely this was the not the colour of medal we wanted. Talking in the room with the girls, I couldn’t be more proud of how hard we worked and the experiences we had together – that’s something we will never forget and really proud of the whole team.
Russia outshot Canada 42-34 and netminder Jessica Vance (Saskatchewan; Prince Albert, Sask.) stood on her head with several tough, close-in stops throughout the game She stated, “This was an unreal experience as most of us being here at a Universiade for the first time has been pretty cool. We were right in that game and it was disappointing to lose but I think we know that I think we deserved better.”
At the sold-out Arena Sever, the pro-Russian crowd created an electric atmosphere as these teams went back and forth with good scoring chances throughout and had both goalies making tough stops.
In the first, Vance was tasked to make stop after stop as the Russians were looking to pounce early as they did in the round robin game when they won 4-2. Instead it was 0-0 with Russia having a 20-11 advantage on shots in goal.
Canada produced their best period of the tournament in the second as the ice tilted as waves of Canadian rushes almost produced the first goal. After killing off an early penalty, forward Katryne Villeneuve (Moncton; Casselman, Ont.) was denied in the slot and stopped on a backhand while when the red and white had a late power play, they tried to jam the puck under the Russian goalie in a goal mouth scramble. A glorious opportunity presented itself at the end of the period. Forward Tricia Van Vaerenbergh (Lethbridge: Picture Butte, Alta.) stripped a defender at the blueline and walked in all alone but couldn’t bury the shot with only 17 second left in the period. After two, still 0-0 but Canada outshot Russia by a 17-7 margin in the middle frame.
The third period was tense. It seemed the first goal might be the game-winner as both teams continued to push. Vance again was big on stopping numerous chances from the slot and her best might have been a sliding point blank save on a cross-ice pass that produced a one-timer.
A crucial call of delay of game penalty for shooting the puck out of the rink in the defensive zone resulted in the first goal. Canada was just over 30 seconds away from killing the infraction when Russia scored from the point on a screen shot that Vance could not save this time.
For the rest of the period, the Canadians were desperate for an equalizer but to no avail. The last good opportunity fluttered by on a 2-on-1 with about four minutes left as the Russians locked down the neutral zone and slated away the victory with an empty netter and their third consecutive gold in women’s hockey at the Winter Universiade.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 12, 2019
Labach earns Canada West second star of the week
By Canada West Communications
EDMONTON – After three medals and a national award, Julianne Labach of the University of Sasaktchewan Huskies women’s track & field team was named the Canada West second star of the week.
National record breaker Austin Cole and Canada West champion Savannah Purdy are the conference’s first stars for the period ending Sunday, March 10.
Cole shattered the U SPORTS and U23 Canadian record in the 300m with a time of 32.89. His gold medal in the event marked the third straight national title for the Alberta sprinter. In addition to his gold medal, Cole added a silver in the 4x400m relay and a bronze in the 4x200m relay, while also being named the U SPORTS Track Athlete of the Year.
Purdy helped Trinity Western capture its third Canada West title in program history with a big performance in the Spartans 3-0 win over Calgary. The Canada West Rookie of the Year recorded a match-high 10 kills without a single attack error, finishing the match with a .769 hitting percentage. Purdy added seven digs, three blocks and a pair of aces in the match.
The pair will now move on as the Canada West nominees for the U SPORTS athletes of the week.
M – First Star: Austin Cole, Alberta Golden Bears track
Championship log: Gold Medal and U SPORTS record in men’s 300m dash / silver medal in 4x400m relay / bronze medal in 4x200m relay
Two weeks after torching the Canada West Track and Field Championships in Edmonton, third-year sprinter Austin Cole turned in a historic performance at the U SPORTS Championships in Winnipeg.
Cole added to his already illustrious career with three more medals at the 2019 national championship, while also shattering his national 300 metre record.
One year after setting the U SPORTS 300m record with a time of 33.37, Cole turned it up another notch this past weekend. His time of 32.89 set a new U SPORTS and U23 Canadian record and also earned him his third straight national title in the event.
Cole added to his medal haul on Saturday with a silver medal in the 4x400m relay, and a bronze medal in the 4x200m relay. In three seasons, Cole has racked up nine U SPORTS medals.
Prior to the championship, Cole was also awarded the U SPORTS 2019 Male Track Athlete of the Year.
W – First Star: Savannah Purdy, Trinity Western Spartans volleyball
Game log: Friday, Mar. 8 (CW Championship) – 10 kills, .769 hitting percentage, 2 aces, 7 digs, 3 blocks in Canada West Final win over Calgary.
Just three days after winning Canada West Rookie of the Year, Savannah Purdy proved the voters made the right call, as she was nearly unstoppable in helping lead TWU to their third conference championship in the last five years.
Purdy earned a match-high 10 kills and didn’t make a single attacking error while hitting .769. She also added two aces, seven digs and three blocks. Purdy was influential in one of the Spartans most dominant performances of the year in which they didn’t allow Calgary to collect more than 18 points in any of the three sets.
With Purdy’s effort, the Spartans capped the conference playoffs with a perfect 5-0 record, which ultimately sent TWU into the national championship tournament as the No. 1 seed. TWU will open the U SPORTS Championship Friday (12 p.m. PT) against local rival UBC in the quarter-finals.
M – Second Star: Mambi Diawara, Calgary Dinos basketball
Game log: Thursday, Mar. 8 (QF) – 17 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists / Friday, Mar. 9 (SF) – 17 points, 11 rebounds, 7 steals / Sunday, Mar. 10 (Final) – 13 points, five rebounds
2019 Canada West player of the year Mambi Diawara finishes his varsity career with a national championship and two silver medals following a tournament all-star performance at the U SPORTS Men’s Basketball Final 8 last week in Halifax.
The fifth-year Montreal native started his weekend earning a first team All-Canadian nod, then put up the first triple-double for the Dinos in more than four years with his 17-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist performance against Saint Mary’s in the national quarter-final. In the semi against Ryerson, Diawara picked up 17 points, 11 rebounds, and seven steals, then added 13 points and five rebounds in the championship game against Carleton.
W – Second Star: Julianne Labach, Saskatchewan Huskies track
Championship log: Gold in 600m / silver in 1000m / silver in 4x400m relay
In her final trip to the U SPORTS Track & Field Championships, fifth-year athlete Julianne Labach made sure that she went out on top.
Before the meet even started, Labach was named the U SPORTS track athlete of the year, and then went on to claim three medals, two gold and one silver, at the national championship meet hosted in Winnipeg, MB.
The law student won gold in the 600-metre race in a time of 1:28.70, breaking a Huskie record that had stood since 1984 in the process. Labach also claimed national silver in the 1000-metre and 4×400-metre relay.
Medalling in all three of the events she competed in, the product of Saskatoon helped a Huskies’ women’s team comprised of just 12 athletes to second place in the team standings, their best finish in 14 years.
M – Third Star: Brady Nault, Brandon Bobcats volleyball
Game log: Friday, Mar. 8 (CW Championship) – 11 digs, 1 assist in 3-2 win over Trinity Western.
Fifth-year libero and team co-captain Brady Nault had one of the biggest matches of his five-year career on Friday and in doing so lifted the Bobcats to the team’s second Canada West conference championship and first on home court.
Nault made plenty of highlight-reel plays against the hard-hitting and high-flying No. 2 ranked Spartans in Brandon’s 3-2 (25-23, 18-25, 25-21, 22-25, 15-12) win.
Nault managed several spectacular plays in recording his match-high 11 digs, including a hard-shot from first-team all-star Eric Loeppky late in the third set that looked like it may have ended Nault’s night. The Winnipeg product did not miss a beat however, as he not only finished the match, but
Nault and the Bobcats now switch focuses to next weekend as the team enters U SPORTS nationals as the No. 1 seed and will take on the Montreal Carabins to open the tournament on Friday.
W – Third Star: Niki Oudenaarden, Calgary Dinos track & field
Championship log: Gold in pentathlon (4168 pts) / bronze in 4x400m relay / 4th in shot put / 6th in long jump / 7th in high jump
Niki Oudenaarden wrapped up her university career with another dominant performance, winning the pentathlon by nearly 400 points and adding a relay bronze medal at the 2019 U SPORTS track and field championships in Winnipeg.
Oudenaarden’s pentathlon score of 4,168 points set a new facility record at the University of Manitoba fieldhouse and was just over 200 points shy of Jessica Zelinka’s U SPORTS record of 4,380. It beat her Canada West-winning score by eight points and is one of the top 50 performances in the world this year.
And she wasn’t done there: Oudenaarden went on to win a bronze medal with the Dinos in the 4 x 400-metre relay and finished fourth in the shot put, sixth in long jump, and seventh in high jump.
