By Emilie Tobin
The players throw their hands in the air and bang their sticks on the boards as the Lisgar Collegiate Institute girls hockey team gathers on the ice to celebrate a goal.
Inside the dressing room, after the game, the dozen teenagers laugh and talk loudly as they remove sweat-soaked equipment and slip into their everyday clothes. They are a close-knit team and that bond has given them an on-ice edge.
This team surprised a lot of people, including themselves, by winning all but one of their games this season.
“We gelled as a team this year,” says captain and 12th– grader Rosanna Nicol. “We worked together and there was a real sense of team.”
Second-year forward and leading scorer Isabel Theberge says this season has been easier because of the team play. “We’re more of a team this year,” she says. “Together we feel so good.”
The Lady Lords posted a 9-1 record and proved to be one of the strongest teams in the Tier-2 league. This is ever more significant for a team that only five years ago lost all of their games.
The difference between Tier-1 and 2 is the level of play. Tier-1 teams tend to be faster, stronger, more experienced and have strong goaltending. While Lisgar has many quality players, they have a rookie goaltender and the head coach thought it was best to keep them in a league where they could be competitive and win.
Nevertheless, “we overachieved this year,” says coach Brett Dugan. “I would have been happy with a .500 (average) season at the start of the year.”
How has the team turned things around? For starters, there has been stability in the coaching department with Dugan and assistant coach Jamie McMullen behind the bench for the last four years.
But Dugan credits his players for showing a commitment to play and making it to every game.
“The girls put the effort in and they worked well together.”
The coach says he has tried to develop a system that involves a focus on defense.
“We work hard in our own end,” says Dugan. “We work on getting the puck out. That’s been our key.”
While Dugan credits his defense, the statistics show the team doesn’t lack much in the offensive end. Lisgar has scored 63 goals let in only 10 five of those goals in their only loss.
Lisgar walked through most of the season, says Dugan, dominating most opponents and beating one team 14-0. The domination ended when they lost the last game of the season to a strong St. Peter’s team.
“That was a wake-up call,” says Theberge. “We don’t like losing.”
Dugan says he is glad the girls faced a fairly strong opponent before the playoffs, which start in about three weeks.
With such a dominating record, the Lady Lords might seem a lock to win the championship, which would be the first for the Centretown based team.
But Dugan is cautious. “Our record doesn’t tell the whole story,” he says, explaining Lisgar is in the East division which is weaker than the West. During the playoffs, Lisgar will play Mother Teresa, the third-place team in the West.
“We could be out in the first game,” the coach admits, which is why he has organized games against strong teams in order to prepare his team.
They have played an exhibition game against a Tier-1 team, which they won, and have another scheduled the week before the playoffs begin. The girls aren’t letting the challenge dampen their spirits. “This just means were going to have to work harder,” says Theberge. “We’re confident and our goal is to go to the finals.”
“It would be a nice way to end my high school career,” says Nicol. “We’ve never won a playoff game before.”
Dugan thinks his team can go further. “When my team is there and they are focused, they can beat any team in Tier-2.”