Page 10 February 16, 2009 SPORTS

Lady Panthers turn heads, but there’s along BUA Ete. Ccentitiitee

road in front of them

Lady Panthers find themselves on the winning side, but their coach says consistent output is a must

By Kate VanGerven Panther Post

Maybe it was the fresh start 2009 brought with it or maybe it was the AUS Championships looming in the near future that lit this fire under our Lady Panthers. Whatever it is, let’s all cross our fingers that it stays with them.

As hosts of the 2009 AUS Women’s hockey championship, the Lady Pan- thers are guaranteed a spot. However, they seem bound and determined to prove that they don’t need any sort of handout.

Their games have taken a surpris- ing turn resulting in their new rank of fifth in the AUS division.

The Jan. 24 game against Mount Allison saw the first goal scored by Mount A., but the Lady Panthers re- mained undaunted.

Apparently they not only believe in winning, but in equal distribution as they scored one goal for each period of the game.

The Mount Allison game can ar- guably be called a fluke, or a lucky game but others would prefer to dis- agree.

If you need evidence, here it is. An away game against St. Thomas on Jan. 31 proves that the Lady Pan-

thers have the heart, the skill and the

determination to deserve a slot in the AUS championship, hosts or not.

The women’s hockey team is cur- rently ranked third in the AUS stand- ings, a substantial 16 point lead over the Lady Panthers.

With this in mind, the Lady Pan- thers gave it all they had and were rewarded with a 5-4 win, settled by a shootout in which Panthers goalie Liz Legay was the hero.

Feb. 1 was a whole other kind of victory for the Lady Panthers.

They played l’Université de Moncton Blue Eagles who are ranked No. | in the AUS division, as well as seventh nationally.

That’s nothing to sneeze at, and the Lady Panthers didn’t dare. This game is being called UPEI’s best of the year which is also an accomplishment to which one should not sneeze.

With this kind of momentum, and a good dose of luck, the Lady Panthers could very well catapult themselves into victory.

The Lady Panthers are working hard, but they’II need to keep it up in order to keep being successful, head coach Bruce Donaldson said.

“[The Lady Panthers] need to be more con- sistent in [their] output and continue to out- work other programs in order to have con- tinued __ success...the team is starting to see some very positive re- sults from all their hard work.”

After suffering some harsh losses throughout the season, the Lady Panthers have seemed to find some sort of res- ervoir of determination,

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Donaldson said. .

“With the improved skill level [and] hard work in practices it is starting to come together.”

So what can UPEI students expect from our Lady Panthers. when the AUS Championship rolls around? Donaldson is perhaps the best judge of this, and while he remains deter-

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mined to have the team play to the best of their ability he admits “the league is very tight this year so when it comes to the AUS weekend I be- lieve upsets will occur.”

Come March 6, 7 and 8 at the CARI Complex what kind of upsets, and for whom will be unveiled.