Manitoba Women’s High School Hockey Champions
March 15, 2017 by admin
Filed under Provincial and Territorial News
It was a battle of high school hockey powerhouses — and Tuesday’s winner-take-all tilt served up a fitting ending to the season.
The No. 2-ranked Vincent Massey Trojans upset the No. 1-seeded Shaftesbury Titans 3-0 in the deciding game of the “A” division championship at the MTS Iceplex. It’s the first title for the team in 21 years of competition.
Vincent Massey goalie Taylor McDermott came up with a clutch performance, stopping all 22 shots that came her way.
“I have honestly never been more nervous in my life. But at the same time I was super excited,” said McDermott, a Grade 12 student who is in her third and final season with the team. “Senior year, I couldn’t ask for a better way to go out. I’ll never forget this moment.”
Trojans forward Jaeden Borgford opened the scoring early in the second period, finding herself all alone in front of the Shaftesbury net. She made no mistake in going upstairs to beat Titans goalie Rachel Parson.
“It was huge momentum for us. I told the team going in we’ve got to get the first goal. And from there we just kept going and kept playing hard,” said McDermott.
Shaftesbury forward Haley Proteau had a golden chance to tie the game midway through the middle frame but hit the goalpost on a breakaway. She drew a penalty in the process, but the Titans were unable to come up with the equalizer.
Vincent Massey went up 2-0 less than five minutes into the third period on a weird play. A Shaftesbury clearing attempt appeared to hit one of their own players and deflect into their own net. The goal was credited to forward Ashley Hantscher.
Kennedy Tachinski added an insurance goal with just nine minutes remaining, putting away a rebound for a 3-0 lead.
“We were really focused on just getting the first goal. We knew if we did, that would put a little more pressure on them and they would be pushing a little more. We followed up that first goal, never changed our game plan. They played really hard,” said Vincent Massey head coach Colin Wolfe.
Shaftesbury posted the best regular-season record, finishing first overall with an impressive 18-2-2 mark. Right behind them was Vincent Massey with a 14-6-2 record.
Both teams had rolled through the playoffs to get to the finals, going a combined 8-1 in their first two series.
Vincent Massey took the best-of-three opener by a 2-1 score. But Shaftesbury kept their season alive on Monday, winning 2-1 and forcing the deciding game.
The Trojans have eight seniors from their team who will now have a fantastic lasting memory as they graduate in the spring.
“Our depth was our strength. Our leadership was amazing. That’s what made us come back 24 hours later and get the job done,” said Wolfe. “We’re going to enjoy this for sure.”
mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca
Trojan women win their first hockey title

The Vincent Massey Collegiate women’s hockey team won the school’s first league championship on March 14 against the Shaftesbury Titans.
The championship drought of the Vincent Massey Collegiate women’s hockey team has come to an end.
After 21 years in the Winnipeg Women’s High School Hockey League, Vincent Massey won its first division title.
On March 14, the 19-player team won the CTV A Division championship series against the Shaftesbury High School Titans.
After taking the first of the three-game series 2-1 in overtime, the Trojans fell to the Titans in game two by a score of 2-1, but recovered to finish off the season with a 3-0 win in the deciding matchup.
“There’s lots of excitement right now and it’s been a great couple days here,” Trojans head coach Colin Wolfe said. “It feels great to win the first championship for girls hockey for the school.”
The title is the result of a demanding season and the determination to push through a challenging playoff bracket, Wolfe explained, adding that it wasn’t long ago that the Trojans were at the bottom of league standings.
The No. 2-seeded Trojans entered playoffs expecting tough competition, particularly from the No. 1 Titans, Wolfe said. At the conclusion of the regular season, the Titans beat the Trojans 5-0.
“So, heading into playoffs we were limping a little bit but we had a good series against our first-round opponent, the Oak Park Raiders,” Wolfe said.
The Trojans then met the St. Mary’s Academy Flames, pulled off a quick, two-game series win and set the wheels in motion for the championship bid.
“I think after that the momentum really swung with the girls and they got confident that we could really do this,” Wolfe said.
Coming off the overtime win in game one against the Titans, Wolfe said the Trojans were feeling nervous and “just gripping the sticks too tight” with the prospect of bringing home the first championship title for the school.
The next day, the Trojans regrouped and Wolfe encouraged the team to loosen up and play the game they love.
“We talked about the opportunity we had and to just go out there and really enjoy your last game,” Wolfe said. “The third game we came together and our eight Grade 12s really led this team to victory and it was a great feeling.”
The Trojans also had renewed focus in game three, recording as many shots in the first period of game three as they had in all of game two.
“One of our adjustments we made was to make sure we were getting shots on target from all areas and to play in their end for the majority of the game and establish our forecheck, which was our strength,” Wolfe said.
Wolfe said the Trojans’ defence played a tight game and goalie Taylor McDermott, who was named first star, managed to make 22 saves to blank the Titans.
“She really stood out that game and was a huge reason why we were able to finish the job,” Wolfe said.
The Trojans were also bolstered by Grade 12 defenceman Stephanie Molloy, who rescheduled a flight to Europe to play in the final, Wolfe said.
“That was a huge factor for us on all ends of the ice,” he said.
Trojan goals were scored by Jaeden Borgford, Ashley Hantscher, Kennedy Tachinski. Forward Genevieve Houghton was named the game’s third star in the last game of the series.
Read more by Danielle Da Silva.