Central Michigan women’s club hockey walked away with a pair of victories, but the greater significance lay in the team’s support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Friday night’s matchup against Hope College resulted in a 13-0 win for CMU, while Saturday’s matinee game wasn’t against an American Collegiate Hockey Association team. Instead, it was the Grand Rapids Griffins 19U travel team.
Central Michigan ended up walking off the Griffins in overtime, 4-3.
The team remains undefeated, now stretching it to 10-0, the best record in program history to begin a season.
“If you would’ve told me back in March that this team would be 10-0, I would’ve been very happy because we turned over half a roster,” head coach Chris Haney said. “We got to keep level-headed and recognize that there are tougher opponents on the schedule, and we just got to keep working hard and keep doing what got us to this record.”
The team, along with family, decorated the arena lobby pink and offered baked goods to contribute to the cancer fundraiser. Even the on-ice uniforms of maroon and gold was swapped for pink jerseys.
“It’s super important, because as you can see here on these signs back here, all the players, every single person has a family member, close friend that’s been affected by this,” Haney said. “So, it really hits home, and it’s an opportunity for them, especially this month, but culminating in this, to reflect on their loved ones that maybe they lost or that are fighting things and know that they’re cared about. And I know it means a lot to those people that they’re honoring. Some of them are here too, fighting cancer. So, it’s really heartwarming to see and get a cure for all this someday.”
“Our executive board met several times and had a lot of discussions on what to do for the decorations and put in the baskets and the bake sale,” he said. “A lot of them baked all day Friday. A lot of work and a lot of passion to make it really good. And they nailed it. It’s been awesome all weekend.”
For the majority of the game, the Chippewas held a lead and controlled the contest, until the third period, when the Griffins climbed back with two goals to tie the game 3-3.
The game-winning goal was set up by a penalty in regulation as it carried over to extra time. An outlet pass from Helen Montross to Mallory Camryn sprung the attack out of the defensive zone, and then Camryn found Alyssa Borlace skating past her defender on the rush, roofing the puck for the win.
“This is a perfect game for us to play, because probably, arguably, the toughest games on the schedule in two weeks against Northern [Michigan], that I wanted to have a good game where we were pushed to be ready for them,” Haney said. “And we got pushed today, especially in that third period, so it was good to see us battle and ultimately get the victory after giving up the lead there.”
Central Michigan hasn’t been behind many times this season, so the late push from the Griffins put the team in some new territory of blowing a lead.
“So, it was good to see that there wasn’t a panic or ‘oh crap, we’re going to lose,'” he said. “It was a lot of resolve and determination on the bench. I was happier than heck to see us pay off that power play game winner.”
After another weekend of wins for CMU, the players and coaches now have a two-week break with Northern Michigan on the schedule for Nov. 14-15.
