By / Kristi Patton
Alycia Matthews ended her four year career in the NCAA in perfect fashion, albeit those final minutes as a Wisconsin Badger were in the penalty box.
Up 5-0 in the finals of the NCAA Frozen Four tournament Matthews, a native of Castlegar, found herself enjoying her third national title win from the sidelines.
“Rachel Bible and I were in the box together for the last minutes of the game and we gave each other a hug as we joked around that this is how we are going to end our seasons in the box, and being ahead 5-0 we knew we had the championship,” said Matthews. “Then we looked up on the big screen and the camera was on us, and the crowd was cheering so we were waving our arms, motioning people to stand up, make some noise etc. After our celebration, our teammates told us that we reminded them of the bash brothers off of the Mighty Ducks.”
The Badgers assistant captain said this season will go down as one of her most memorable. Matthews led the defensive core in points this year with 25 and assisted on the Badgers second goal in the chmpionship game.
The Badgers breezed through the brackets, shutting out Dartmouth 7-0 and handily beating Minnesota Duluth 5-1 before meeting the Mercyhurst Lakers in the finals.
“My four years here have been amazing, there are always the ups and downs and the injuries, but I guess if I had to pick, I would say this year would be a year to remember as the best because it was my last year, everyone went out and gave it their all, especially in the last month and we were rewarded with the ultimate prize,” said Matthews.
On the other end of the ice was Surrey-native Hillary Pattenden who not only realized the dream of playing in the finals of the Frozen Four but made history with her Mercyhurst College Lakers teammates. It was the first time ever the team made it the finals.
The freshman goaltender’s ultimate dream of winning a national championship was dashed as the No. 1-ranked Badgers handily defeated them. With 15 freshman on the roster, the Lakers could not put the puck past this year’s Patty Kazmaier Award winner as the top player in women’s college hockey – Jessie Vetter.
Pattenden, who played for the Pacific Steelers Midget AAA last season was runner-up for the B.C. Junior Female Athlete of the Year this year.
Also in the Frozen Four is Jenny Lura, a goaltender with the Minnesota Gophers. The team squeeked by Boston College 4-3 in the opening round of the tournament only to be stopped by Mercyhurst 5-4. |