The Theresa Humes Cup wraps up as the Stingers look strong ahead of the season
The Stingers new lineup looked impressive in the Theresa Humes pre-season tournament
The women’s hockey teams of Concordia University, Queen’s University, the University of Guelph and Université de Montréal (UdeM) gathered at the Ed Meagher Arena during the last weekend of September to compete for the Theresa Humes Cup, which honours the advocate and pioneer of Concordia women’s sports, Theresa Humes.
In this six-game tournament, the Stingers, coached by Julie Chu, reached the finals but lost to their close rivals, the UdeM Carabins.
“We want a different result; we never like to lose,” Chu said of the team’s performance. “[But] if we come out of any game and we have the mindset that there's things we did well and things we want to get better, [...] then we’re gonna get to where we want to be.”
The opening game of the tournament was against the Guelph Gryphons and was very penalty-heavy. Despite this, the Stingers managed to win 3-1 by defending fiercely throughout their many penalty kills.
“[We’re] trying to be more disciplined, and have more 5-on-5 time,” defender and captain Camille Richard said. “It’s just nice to have that recognition from my teammates, [though] we’re all leaders on this team."
In their second round-robin game, the Stingers faced the Queen’s Gaels, looking to continue their years-long winning streak against the Ontario team. Throughout the game, Concordia showed off incredible team synergy, ultimately winning 4-1.
In the round-robin games, the audience got a treat as the teams went to extra overtimes regardless of the official result, with shootouts at the end of each game. Coach Chu liked the experience these extra periods granted the team.
“We got a lot of reps in, a lot of people played, and we were able to throw in a lot of different scenarios based on the format,” Chu said.
The final game was the first time Concordia and UdeM have played each other since last year's U Sports National Championship, when the Stingers lost to the Carabins in the final.
Despite the disappointing final result of 3-1 to the visitors, forward Kate Furlong’s last-minute one-timer slapshot into the Carabins net was more than enough to spark hope and ambition for the season as a whole.
“It’s good to finish on a high note and go out of the weekend like that,” Furlong said. “It’s a pre-season tournament for us to learn new things, make mistakes and get better."
The Stingers will play their regular season home opener against the Carabins on Sunday, Oct. 25 at 2 p.m.
