The University of New Brunswick Reds' women's hockey team won the first U Sports medal, a bronze, in program history. It comes after the program was revived in a court battle, and has built itself to an annual contender.
The University of New Brunswick Reds women's hockey team captured the first U Sports medal in program history winning bronze in a 2-1 decision over the University of Guelph.
New Brunswick's Katelyn Scott opened the scoring taking a loose puck in the slot before going top shelf in tight to beat Guelph netminder Martina Fedel.
Midway through the first period, Reese Coffey found Guelph captain Katherine Heard who broke in shorthanded beating Cassie McCallum on the backhand.
Avery Thurston rounded out the first period scoring, and the scoring in the game notching what would turn out to be the game winning tally scoring for the reds only 59 seconds after Guelph scored.
From that point on, it was a goaltending duel between Fedel and McCallum with McCallum turning aside 28 shots in the win.
It was New Brunswick's first medal in four prior attempts at the U Sports national championships. The program played for bronze in 2022 but lost the game. It's also the first time since 2016 that an AUS program won a medal.
New Brunswick's Medal Meaningful After Early Program Struggles
Following the 2007-08 season, the University of New Brunswick shocked many by downgrading their women's hockey program from a varsity team to only a club.
Sylvia Bryson, a member of the Reds, filed a human rights complaint in 2009 stating the decision was gender discrimination as UNB's men's team survived the cuts.
It took seven years for the case to play out, but finally in 2016, a decision was rendered by the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission, stating the University of New Brunswick had in fact discriminated based on sex.
The school was ordered to reinstate the program for the 2018-19 season. At that time, Sarah Hillworth was named head coach of UNB's program and has held the role since, including guiding New Brunswick to their bronze medal this season.
New Brunswick has appeared at the U Sports national championships in five consecutive seasons recording three 7th place finishes, a 4th place finish, and this season, a historic bronze.