National Champions for the First Time

Head coach Jon Rempel had four goals for his hockey team this season.

Finish first, qualify for Nationals, win Canada West and win a National Championship.

The University of Manitoba completed the fourth and final goal this past Sunday when the Bisons defeated the Western Mustangs 2-0 in the U SPORTS women’s hockey championship game in London, Ontario.

“It’s just been amazing,” said U of M first-year defenseman and Steinbach native Lauren Warkentin shortly after the team’s flight arrived in Winnipeg Monday afternoon. “I’m still lost for words. The feeling is still setting in and it still doesn’t seem real. It’s just amazing.”

Lauryn Keen and Venla Hovi did the goal scoring for the Bisons in the gold medal game and goaltender Lauren Taraschuk made 20 saves in recording the shutout.

“We knew that we could get it done,” Warkentin said. “We played with our hearts and just left it all on the ice.”

Manitoba blanked Queens 4-0 in the quarterfinals and then edged the Concordia Stingers 2-1 in a shootout in the semifinals.

It was the youngest Bison who scored the team's only goal in regulation.

“Hovi made a great play,” said Warkentin. “She was driving down the wall and cut to the middle. I had called for the pass and she cut to the middle just a little longer and managed to draw the defenders to her and just pass it across. I shot it on net and it managed to go in. It was a pretty good feeling.”

The Bisons, who were the number one seed this past weekend, made five previous appearances at the Nationals and won three bronze medals.

This time the Herd brought home gold.

“It was an amazing first year,” said Warkentin. “We have a really veteran team and it was kind of nice to come in and I knew that all these girls wanted to go for Can West and even go for a National title. To have that experience on the team helped me get immersed in the college hockey feeling.”