Hurricanes defend ACHA championship in Nova Scotia

March 4, 2024

Sports Photos NS

The Holland Hurricanes are back-to-back Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) champions.

This past weekend (March 1-3), the women’s hockey team went 2-0-1 (W-L-OTL) at the 2024 ACHA Championships in Wolfville, N.S., concluding the tournament with a 4-1 win against the host, Acadia University Axewomen, in Sunday’s championship game. For the second year in a row, Holland beat Acadia for regional gold, and it’s the team’s third title in history.

For Brody Irving’s first season as head coach, his first one certainly turned heads.

“It was a great first experience. It was my first time coaching female hockey. All the girls were great to work with this year, zero issues. It was great that we all worked together and came home with the championship,” Irving said.

Before the championships, five players were named to 2024 ACHA All-Star Teams. Rookie and ACHA top scorer Taylor Gillis, captain Jacy McMillan, and veteran goaltender Emma Arsenault were named to the first team. Rookies Kristyn Taylor and Kayla Batchilder were named to the second team. Congratulations to all players!

On Friday, March 1, the Hurricanes faced the Axewomen for game one of the championships, earning a close 5-3 win. Holland started the game strong, with Taylor scoring a goal three minutes into the game on a two-on-one play. With 3:06 remaining, Brenna Verran collected a rebound and tied the game with a power-play goal. Not too long after, Gillis collected an interception pass from rookie Kailey Lutley and gave Holland a 2-1 lead heading into the second period.

Four minutes into period two, Rylee Bennett fed a pass in front to Verran, who scored her second goal of the game to tie the score at two apiece. The ‘Canes responded well once again as, a minute later, Josee Allain made it a 3-2 game with a breakaway goal. The Axewomen tied the game three minutes into the third period but the ‘Canes responded with a nice individual effort from Gillis, who sniped another goal to make it 4-3. She would seal the deal with an empty netter in the final minute. Allain was named Holland’s Player of the Game.

“We were really ready to play on Friday. We played three great periods. Had a lot of good offensive chances. Emma (Arsenault) played great in net,” coach Irving said.

On Saturday, March 2, Acadia played the Cape Breton University Capers, defeating them 2-0 in a tight match. Rookie goaltender Emily Ritchot earned the shutout. Later, CBU had one last shot to earn a spot in Sunday’s championship game, and although their effort fell short thanks to a one-goal tiebreaker, they surprised the Hurricanes with a crazy 5-4 overtime win.

The Capers got on the board seven minutes in as Madison MacDonald scored a rebound goal off a shot from the point by Leila Ludyka. With 5:08 remaining, Taylor Gillis contributed another spectacular individual effort with a zone-to-zone breakaway goal. Two minutes later, Kristyn Taylor added a five-hole goal to make it 2-1. CBU stunned Holland with two goals in the second period by Morgan Bates and Alyssa Burke, and Jordan Cormier made it a two-goal game (4-2) just 13 seconds into the third period.

The ‘Canes mounted a big comeback effort with 7:11 remaining, as Gillis scored her fifth goal of the tournament to close the gap, and one minute later, Jacy McMillan skated zone to zone and fired a shot past Emily O’Neil’s glove from the faceoff dot. The game required a five-minute overtime period, and unfortunately, a defensive mistake in front of Holland’s Emma Arsenault led to a goal by Belle Jacobs, giving CBU the win. Gillis was named Holland’s Player of the Game.

The Hurricanes were lucky to get an extra point, as they went 1-0-1 while Acadia and CBU each went 1-1. The Axewomen won the tiebreaker by winning the round-robin game between the two teams, clinching a spot in Sunday’s finale against Holland. For the ‘Canes, a spot in the championship game, yes, but quite a sour taste left in players’ mouths heading into Sunday.

“Cape Breton came out flying against us. We ended up going into the game a little too relaxed. We went down early and managed to pull it together in the third period. It was good adversity to put us into Sunday,” coach Irving said.

Thankfully, Holland rebounded nicely on Sunday, dominating Acadia en route to a 4-1 win, claiming the ACHA title for the second year in a row.

The ‘Canes got on the board first two minutes into period one with a Abbey Gordon goal, as she tipped a slap shot from the blue line by Madison Tingley. Holland didn’t score again until 5:51 in period two thanks to a nice goal by Kailey Lutley assisted by Bethany McDougall. Gillis extended her team’s lead to three with a top-shelf shorthanded goal just past the 10-minute mark. Acadia got on the board with 3:38 remaining as Anna Gosling tipped a shot by Caelyn Parker. 25 seconds into the third period, Holland’s win and championship was sealed by, you guessed it, another Taylor Gillis goal. Goaltender Emma Arsenault won Player of the Game Honours.

“Emma was a big reason we won. She played awesome and made lots of saves. Our MVP for the whole weekend was Gillis. She played penalty kill and power play, was logging a lot of minutes, scoring a lot of goals, setting up goals, etc.

“In terms of our play, a repeat of Friday. We played strong, fast defensively, and offensively we were creating lots of good chances and great shots. We got the lead early and held it all the way. In general, a lot of the team stepped up and played their roles,” coach Irving said.

Irving looks forward to the program's future and mentioned multiple goals.

“Our big thing is trying to progress the league to the next level. Getting a more established, better structure. Hopefully we will get more teams. There is a lot of momentum going forward with female hockey, the PWHL, and everything. There are a lot of girls in the region that want to play at a post-secondary level.

“We have a lot more interest already. A lot of girls are reaching out, sending in videos, and have a lot of interest in the program, so it’s great to see,” Irving said.

Interested in continuing your hockey career at the post-secondary level? Visit www.hollandhurricanes.com and submit a player profile to start your journey today.

Connect with the women’s hockey Hurricanes at www.twitter.com/caneswhockeyandwww.instagram.com/caneswhockey.