Fans welcome Bisons back after big win

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This article was published 18/03/2018 (2230 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Cheering friends and family: check.

Noisemakers: check.

Bisons women’s mascot: check.

The University of Manitoba’s women’s hockey team returned to a triumphant homecoming at the Richardson International Airport Monday evening.

Bisons player Erica Rieder carried the trophy high over her head as the team descended the escalator to be greeted by a throng of adoring friends and family.

The team claimed its first U Sports women’s hockey championship with 2-0 win over the hometown Western Ontario Mustangs in London, Ont., on Sunday.

The women were clearly savouring the taste of victory. Battle-tested over the past five seasons, the team was primed for the final game after a 2-1 shootout win over Montreal’s Concordia Stingers in the semifinals Saturday night.

“There wasn’t a doubt in my mind after that shootout, like we got this. We have a strong goaltender. We have people that can score,” said Lauryn Keen, who was named the tournament’s MVP.

Keen scored the game-winning goal on a power play late in the second period against Western. Finnish Olympian Venla Hovi added an insurance marker early in the third period.

For Hovi, who helped the Finnish women’s hockey team win a bronze medal at the Pyeongchang Winter Games, the key to the Bisons’ success was teamwork.

“Every single girl on this team is a hard worker. That’s the No. 1 thing. And we’re all good friends. There’s been zero conflicts this season and you have 27 players on the same team. We’re all like sisters,” Hovi said.

It’s the team’s first championship in its 21-year history.

“Coming back to this is pretty cool,” forward Alanna Sharman said while surveying the scene at the airport.

“We’re glad to be back home, wearing these,” she said, gesturing to the U Sports championship medals the players proudly wore for their arrival.

“We made history and my past four years that I’ve been here, we’ve been working towards this the whole time,” Sharman said.

Coach Jon Rempel said the whirlwind of the previous 24 hours was still settling in for him.

He has guided the program for the past 14 years.

“This has been everything a playoff run should be. It’s been pretty crazy,” Rempel said.

Bisons rookie goaltender Lauren Taraschuk stopped 20 shots for the shutout in the championship game and allowed just one goal in three games while making 58 saves.

“This morning it set in, on the bus as we drove to the airport, it sunk in,” Taraschuk said of being national champions.

Rempel said the team went into the national championship playoffs embracing their standing as the top-seeded unit and they never looked back.

“The question was: did this group feel the pressure? We never felt the pressure. We played like the No. 1 seed. We deserved to be the No. 1 seed. We were the best team there. Like everything else this year, this group handled it with maturity and poise and just got it done,” the coach said.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca