Photo credit: James McLennan/Griffins Athletics

By Ryan Flaherty

effort pays off

Wilson, Cadieux lead charge as Huskies earn first win

Nov 30, 2024 | 12:07 AM

The Huskies women’s hockey team can finally exhale. After a number of close calls and frustrating finishes, the Dogs put together a complete effort on Friday night in Edmonton to defeat the MacEwan Griffins 1-0 in overtime for their first win of the season.

Jayde Cadieux scored the game’s only goal with 35 seconds remaining in OT and Colby Wilson made 27 saves for her fifth career shutout as the Dogs snapped their 14-game winless skid in thrilling fashion.

“It’s an awesome feeling and I think we’ve been waiting for this. It was unreal, to be honest. I think we’re all just enjoying the moment right now and really hoping that we can carry this on,” Wilson said.

As an evenly played overtime session wound down, Huskies blueliner Kendra Zuchotzki found herself with the puck at centre ice and wheeled a pass to Cadieux, who was gaining speed down the left wing. The third-year forward from Cold Lake, Alta., got behind the lone Griffins defender and cut across the goalmouth, outwaiting Griffins netminder Brianna Sank before calmly sliding a backhander into the open net for her second goal of the season.

“I think it was definitely instinct at that point and obviously the pressure was on. We knew that there was less than a minute left and you don’t want to go to a shootout. You want to finish it right there,” Cadieux said.

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While Cadieux and Wilson played hero, it was a total team effort that enabled Saskatchewan to find the win column. The Dogs outshot the Griffins 36-27 on the night and won the special teams battle, killing three MacEwan power plays before eventually earning their only skater advantage late in the third period.

It was somewhat fitting that a matchup between the two lowest-scoring teams in the Canada West would feature just a single goal, but it wasn’t for lack of trying by either side. The Griffins had some good looks in the first period and had their best chances to take the lead late in the third period, but Wilson held the fort with timely saves and the Huskies defence took care of the rest.

“When you have such a good game it’s just nice to get rewarded for your efforts and I thought we were the team that worked harder tonight,” head coach Steve Kook said.

The Huskies seemed to get stronger as the game wore on, with 17 of their shots coming in the third period and overtime. If not for a strong performance by Griffins netminder Briana Sank, who made 35 saves, Saskatchewan could have won in regulation.

“We tried to emphasize just to keep moving, keep using our speed. It didn’t always produce stuff but the bigger picture was that you just keep building it and building it using your speed and you start to wear down the opponent,” Kook said.

Needless to say, the win is a huge confidence booster for the Dogs, who have stayed positive despite the lack of results in the first half of the season.

“It was definitely a challenge but we kept on working, we kept the vibes high in the dressing room the whole way and it finally paid off, which is just an awesome feeling,” Cadieux said.

Now the Huskies have a chance to follow up their first win with their first weekend sweep in Saturday’s rematch, their final game before the holiday break.

“The most important thing is that we enjoy this win, but now we also know what it takes to win,” Wilson said. “Girls are going to start trusting themselves and we’re going to be working harder because we know we can get that win now. I think we’re all going to be pushing each other because we’ve got a taste of it and now we want to get more.”

The Huskies and Griffins will close out their 2024 schedules with a 5 p.m. puck drop from Downtown Community Arena in Edmonton. The game can be heard on HuskieFAN.

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