By Josh Shwaykowski
The Holland Hurricanes 2024-2025 women’s hockey team successfully three-peated as Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) champions this season.
While the team had a hard-fought regular season, they stepped up their play when they needed to, going undefeated in three games on championship weekend in Cape Breton to lift the trophy.
The Canes' season started with a back-to-back matchup against the Acadia University Axewomen. They dropped their first game, but an impressive come-from-behind victory secured them two points the next day.
“I saw a lot of positive things,” said head coach Matt Carter. “Acadia beat us 2-0 the first night, and when you don't score it can be a little bit deflating. But the next day the girls came out flying, they stuck with them, and won in overtime, which was fantastic.”
Their next two games were once again against the Axewomen, they dropped both in close matchups, 3-2 and 2-1.
Now 1-3 on the season, Carter wasn’t worried about the team's record.
“If you continue to work and pay attention to the little details, things are going to turn around,” he said. “In all four of those games, I think aside from 10-15 minutes of the game, we took over. We were just finding our footing and how we were going to score goals.”
The Hurricanes next four games were against the Cape Breton University (CBU) Capers. Over that four-game stretch, the team struggled to put together an entire 60-minute game, going 1-2-1 and falling to last place.
Carter said the team wasn’t happy with their performance.
“Sitting in third just doesn’t sit well,” he said. “We had a chat with the team, and they all felt the exact same way, so we addressed that we didn’t want to accept that.”
The Hurricanes would then play their third straight matchup against CBU, but this time, they secured all four points from the weekend, beating the Capers 3-1 and 5-4, retaking second place in the standings, which is where they would finish the regular season.
Heading into the ACHA playoffs, the ‘Canes were defending back-to-back champions, and they showed the league why they were, taking down top-seeded Acadia 5-1 in their first game of championship weekend on Saturday, March 8.
“We had the message of one game at a time,” said Carter. “We tested them to start on time, and they did that, scoring eight seconds into the game. It just got everyone fired up, so it was great.”
Their next game was later that day, against the Capers, where the Hurricanes won, securing a bye to the championship game Sunday afternoon.
The ‘Canes were looking for the three-peat against an Axewomen team that was forced to play the Capers Sunday morning to secure their spot in the championship game.
There was a lot of action in the first period between the two teams, shots back and forth caused plenty of offensive chances, but nobody could find the score sheet. The teams would be tied 0-0 heading into the first intermission.
In the second period, the Hurricanes offense exploded, it started when rookie defenseman Ella Marshall fired one past the Axewomen goaltender to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead.
A scary moment a few minutes later saw Josie Lynch cross checked into the boards, resulting in a five-minute misconduct on Acadia. Thankfully, Lynch was able to skate away under her own power, and the ‘Canes would make the Axewomen pay, as they exploded for three goals on the ensuing powerplay. Kristyn Taylor, Adyson MacGillivary and Emma Carey all contributed one goal in that span.
The Axewomen came out flying to start the third and eventually got on the board halfway through the third period. Although the shutout was broken, ‘Canes goalie Emma Arsenault made numerous clutch saves against a tired Axewomen team to keep the Hurricanes three goal lead intact.
Taylor would add another goal late, after Acadia received another game misconduct for unsportsmanlike conduct after the whistle. The Hurricanes lead was too much for the Axewomen to overcome, and Holland College repeated as ACHA champions with Livi Lawlor earning player of the game honours.
“It was amazing, as coaches, we didn’t do anything, we just directed traffic, the players did it all,” said Carter. “I’m super proud of the girls, I give all the credit to them.”
Individually, Livi Lawlor and Kristyn Taylor were named to the ACHA first All-Star team, while Emma Arsenault and Kailey Lutley were named to the second All-Star team.
Going into next season, the team is experiencing large player turnover, but Carter said the team is actively recruiting to try and win another ACHA championship.
“There’s gonna be some athletes who are leaving, so that will be tough to fill, but I’m looking forward to who’s coming in for next season.”
The Hurricanes are looking forward to once-again hosting the Island Cup this October, welcoming collegiate women’s hockey teams from across Canada to PEI for the four-day showcase.
Connect with the women’s hockey ‘Canes at www.x.com/caneswhockey and www.instagram.com/caneswhockey.
For more information on the Holland Hurricanes, visit www.hollandhurricanes.com, www.facebook.com/hollandhurricanes, www.x.com/hc_hurricanes and www.instagram.com/hollandhurricanes.
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