Gee-Gees women's hockey team members, fourth-year forward Alicia Blomberg, Timmins, Ont., third-year forward Fannie Desforges, Fournier, Ont., and fifth-year forward Erika Pouliot, St. Joseph de Beauce, Que., brought home a silver medal for Canada after competing in the 2011 Women's Ball Hockey World Championships, in Bratislava, Slovakia, this past June.
In their first game, all three girls scored their first international point of the championship in a 14-0 blowout against Greece. The girls continued to contribute to Team Canada's points as the team followed up with three more high scoring wins: another 14-0 rout against Austria, 9-0 against Greece and in the semi-final, a dominating 5-0 win against the United States.
"I was overwhelmed with emotions when stepping out on the pad and competing as part of Team Canada for the first time," said Blomberg, "The experience was unforgettable and I have never been more proud to be Canadian."
In the gold medal game, Canada faced hosts Slovakia where Canada gave up its only goal against in a disappointing 1-0 loss. The Canadians out-shot the Slovaks threefold, but could not put it past outstanding Slovakian goalie Zuzanna Tomikova.
Canada would catch a bad break late in the game. With 4.24 seconds left, a determined Slovakian team capitalized on Canada's only misstep of the tournament, handing the Canadians their silver medal.
Although it was a disappointing loss for Canada, the reigning world champions, Blomberg, Desforges, and Pouliot were proud to have experienced a silver medal win at the world championships.
"It was overpowering to see the hype and respect shown towards our Canadian team by both fans and competitors of the tournament," said Desforges, "The experience was amazing and it was an honour to represent Canada."
Women's hockey head coach Yanick Evola was also extremely impressed by his veteran players.
"I am really proud of the girls' performance in Slovakia. It's always a great opportunity when one gets the chance to represent their country. This experience will help the girls become better athletes and leaders which will in turn improve the women's hockey program."
