ROAD TO SILVER

Two West Hants friends were part of the history-making Nova Scotia hockey team that showed what is possible when talented players buy into a game plan and work together for a common goal.

The team won the province's first medal since girls' hockey became a Canada Games sport in 1991, inspiring people across the country in the process. They knocked off provinces with much larger populations en route to earning silver medals in Summerside, P.E.I., on March 5.

“It was the coolest thing

I've ever been a part of,” said defenceman Sarah Leopold. “Everyone bought in, we were all just working towards one common goal of being the first team to ever do that and we all did it.”

The team's previous best finish was fifth in 2003.

“When you zoom out and realize that we were the second-best team in Canada, it's a pretty amazing accomplishment for little Nova Scotia,” said Leopold, an Ardoise resident. “As much as we wanted (the medals) to be gold, they depicted all of our hard work we had put in that entire week and leading up to the Games.”

The results can be a example for other small provinces to draw on.

“I'd say that we showed them it doesn't matter where you come from, or how small your province is,” said Ava Shearer, a winger from Windsor. “You can do it if you put your mind to it and do your job.”

THE TOURNAMENT

The girls knew they had a strong team heading into the tournament but were not sure how they would fare against bigger provinces.

The team went 2-1 in preliminary round play, including defeating Alberta 3-2 in a shootout to open the championship Feb. 27 in Charlottetown. Shearer said it helped set the tone for the week.

“I think we started to realize that we actually had a chance, beating such a big province like Alberta.”

Nova Scotia met Saskatchewan in the quarter-finals and fell behind 2-0 heading to the third period. Shearer tied it then won it in overtime by tipping Sarah Fraser's point shot 31 seconds into overtime.

“All I remember is turning back and seeing the puck go in the net and then celebrating,” Shearer said, noting it was the biggest goal of her career. “I've never felt like that before.”

Shearer finished the tournament with two goals and an assist.

“If Ava hadn't of been there to tip that puck, we would never gotten to the semifinal,” Leopold said. “We wouldn't have made history.”

It set up a match with heavily favoured Ontario, which had a dozen players from the Canadian squad that won the world under-18 championship in January. Ontario had gone 3-0 in preliminary round play while outscoring the opposition 21-1. They beat New Brunswick 14-1 in the quarter-final.

Most people anticipated Ontario would win, but not those inside the Nova Scotia dressing room.

“It just didn't feel like we thought we were going to lose,” Shearer said.

Ontario scored twice in a two-minute stretch of the first period. Nova Scotia got one back 22 seconds into the middle stanza, but still trailed 2-1 heading to the third.

“None of us were down,” Shearer said. “None of us expected us to lose at that point and then we went out there and proved it.”

Jessica MacKinnon scored with 8:27 remaining to tie it and Rachel Walsh's point shot found the back of the net about a minute later after captain Sam Morrison won a faceoff in the Ontario zone.

“I don't think I've ever

A look at the Nova Scotia girls' hockey team's results at the Canada Games in P.E.I. Preliminary round

Nova Scotia 3

Alberta 2 SO

Ontario 6 Nova Scotia 0 Nova Scotia 3 Manitoba 0 Quarter-final

Nova Scotia 3 Saskatchewan 2 OT Semifinal

Nova Scotia 3 Ontario 2 Gold medal game

British Columbia 3

Nova Scotia 0

“As much as we wanted (the medals) to be gold, they depicted all of our hard work we had put in that entire week and leading up to the Games.” Sarah Leopold N.S. Canada Games female hockey player

screamed that loud,” Shearer said. “It was so exciting.”

The rink on the UPEI campus was full with a pro-Nova Scotia crowd.

“When that (second) goal went in, it just erupted,” Leopold said. “It was probably one of the happiest moments I've ever felt in the game of hockey and even in my whole life.”

But the game wasn't over. “When that third goal went in, it was like almost disbelief,” Leopold said. “We're in the third period, we're beating Ontario, and it was like we're going to win this game.”

When the final buzzer sounded the squad burst off the bench to celebrate with goalie Rhyah Stewart.

“She really kept us in it,” Leopold said. “Without her, we wouldn't have been able to do what we did. We really put a lot of trust in her.”

Ontario outshot Nova Scotia 51-13.

“If we could keep them outside, we knew Rhyha would save them all day long,” Leopold said.

But it also took a complete buy-in from all players, who sacrificed their body by getting in shooting lanes to block shots and frustrate the Ontario snipers.

“There were six goalies on the ice,” Leopold said. “Everyone was out there blocking shots. They were prepared to do whatever they had to do to win that game.”

The celebration continued after the players left the ice.

Newfoundland and Labrador players lined the tunnel to the dressing room to congratulate their Atlantic counterparts. And the players received a hero's welcome upon going upstairs with people chanting Nova Scotia.

“It was so loud. Everyone was so excited,” Shearer said. “I think they all wanted us to win.”

It included players from other teams in the competition, particularly the Atlantic Canadian squads.

“I think it really put in perspective how many people we really had behind us,” Shearer said.

Leopold added: “It was so cool because it was felt like all of Canada was rooting for us.”

Both girls admitted having a hard time sleeping that night, given the magnitude of what they had accomplished. But getting up the next morning was not a challenge with a gold medal on the line.

B.C. scored two goals midway through the second period en route to a 3-0 victory. While somewhat disappointed in the moment, Shearer and Leopold recognize the significance of what the team had achieved.

“Honestly, when I think about that weekend, Ontario was our gold-medal game,” Leopold said. “I couldn't believe we still had to go back and play B.C. because it felt like we just had the biggest upset.”

Head coach Kori Cheverie, who coaches with the national team, received messages from some of the game's elite players after the Ontario win. It put things in perspective for Leopold.

“It kind of really set it, if the national team was watching, who else was watching?”

BEHIND THE BENCH

While the players on the ice executed the game plan, Cheverie was responsible for designing it and instilling a belief in the team that it could work.

“Without Kori, I don't know how we would have done,” Leopold said. “She always (found) a way to motivate us and she knows the systems and when to play them.”

She helped the squad realize the potential they had. Her pre-game speeches, Leopold said, were short but impactful.

“I don't know how she did it, but she just found a way to light a fire in us.”

BACK AT KES

Shearer and Leopold returned to Nova Scotia March 6 and were at King's-Edgehill School (KES) on March 7 where they received hugs from their Highlanders teammates and congratulations from teachers and fellow students.

“Everybody is super proud of the whole team,” Shearer said. “It means a lot to me and shows me how many people really support me and believe in me and how much of an impact us, as a team, had.”

KES student Hayden Lilly, a Hammonds Plains resident, was also on the silver-medal winning squad while Kristy Michaud was a goalie for Team New Brunswick.