Cougars ready to compete next season
Mar. 3, 2010 - Regina Leader-Post
By Ian Hamilton
Sarah Howald believes the final game of the University of Regina Cougars' 2009-10 season will have a significant impact on the team's games next season.
The Cougars women's hockey team lost 4-3 in overtime to the Alberta Pandas on Saturday in Edmonton, a result that gave Alberta a sweep of a best-of-three Canada West semifinal. But Howald believes it also may have given Regina a headstart on the '10-11 campaign.
"That game will make a big difference," the Cougars' head coach said Tuesday. "On Friday night (when Regina lost 3-0 in Game 1), we weren't intimidated, but we weren't confident. At the end of the day, that's the biggest difference between winning and losing.
"Saturday night showed we can beat teams like that. We didn't, but we battled and now we feel we can compete with those teams."
The Cougars finished fourth in the conference in the regular season with a 7-11-6 record, a modest improvement over their 7-16-1 slate in '08-09. Regina failed to make the playoffs last season, so it took a step forward in that regard in '09-10.
"Like any team, we had some ups and downs," Howald said. "We won most of the games we were supposed to win. That's the most important thing. We competed against everybody.
"The biggest thing was experience," she continued. "We're young. We're developing. You can't expect to go from missing the playoffs to winning the conference in a year.
"Our second-year players really stepped up and contributed this year. I think they're going to make a jump next year and (this season's) rookies are going to do the same."
The Cougars lose only one player -- forward Kelsie Graham -- to graduation, and that bodes well for the future.
Howald expects this season's fourth-years -- forwards Rae-Lynn Somogyi and Kelcie McCutcheon and defenceman Jayme-Lee Green -- to comprise the team's core of leaders next season along with goalie Lisa Urban, who just completed her third season.
As well, Howald believes players who were in their second seasons in '09-10 will take a big step. That group includes players like forwards Rianne Wight, Paige Wheeler and Gina Campbell.
"The kids who were in their first year this year will have to bring more next year," Howald said. "They had good rookie seasons, but being a rookie isn't going to cut it for them next year.
"Everybody played consistently and everybody played to their potential. Now they have to take the next step."