Golden Hawks goaltender, Cohen Myers on the start of the women’s hockey season

“It felt amazing… for the first game it almost didn’t even feel real. It was definitely great and exciting to get back on the ice this year” said Cohen Myers, the veteran goaltender for the Laurier Golden Hawks women’s varsity hockey team. 

Myers, a fifth-year sociology major has been in the Golden Hawks system since the 2017-2018 season and has returned to the ice in dazzling form. Coming back to Laurier for her final season of eligibility – following the cancellation of OUA sports last year – Myers has found herself at the top of the OUA leaderboards, through the first four regular season games. 

While early, Myers has played all four games and has had an astounding season so far, allowing an average of only 1.28 goals per game while holding a 0.958 save per centage, both leading the province. Two-time team MVP, Myers also leads the league in saves, having stopped 115 of 119 shots she has faced this year. 

“Everyone has been super excited and optimistic about the season. We are coming out with a lot of energy, and we are going to be strong going into the second half of the season,” said Myers on the overall look of the team this year. 

More than half of the players on the Golden Hawks team are making their debut in the OUA this season. Given the several fresh faces, Laurier has had some early season struggles, currently sitting at the bottom tier of the standings, and having scored only two goals in the four contests. 

Head Coach Kelly Paton expected some of these challenges, while Myers and her teammates are not concerned about the slow start. 

“Trust the process. Keep doing what we’re doing. We’ve got a young team and I’m optimistic that with more practice we’ll get some more pucks in the net, and we can win some hockey games,” said Myers when asked how the team can turn the year around.  

Despite Laurier having a 1-3 record, their last two games have been positive signs, and may spark momentum towards the remaining 16 games. The Golden Hawks shut-out the Brock Badgers on the road, picking up their first win, 1-0 last Thursday. The Golden Hawks played a fantastic game of defensive hockey, allowing only 15 shots on net, while Myers stopped each one of them on route to being named Laurier player of the week. 

“The energy from the team was amazing that night. Everyone came out ready to go and the team helped me a lot. It was really a team win,” said Myers on her shut-out against Brock. 

“There was good energy at the rink and there were a lot of fans in the building. The loud atmosphere in the rink was amazing and that’s where our team needs to be, matching the energy that is in the building,” she said. 

While Myers played solid in the home matchup on Saturday, the Badgers returned the favour and shut out the Golden Hawks, 2-0, as the two teams split the home and away. 

Laurier will have some time off before their next game against the Windsor Lancers on home ice, November 26th. 

Regarding what the team needs to do to stay focused and be prepared for the Windsor matchups, Myers believes that they must stay the course. “I think we just have to work on our system, get our lines together, score some more goals and keep doing what we’re doing, to be ready for Windsor,” said Myers.  

The Golden Hawks may have had a rocky start to the season, but sticking to the process, working hard and generating some offensive opportunities may be the turning point that the team needs to climb back in the standings. 
Led by Myers, there has been great progress and momentum from the women’s hockey program. The team will lean on their superstar goaltender and hope to even their record before the December break, against Windsor next weekend. Tickets for the final two home games of the calendar year can be purchased through https://laurier.universitytickets.com/.

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