A year ago Red Deer’s Avery Lajeunesse could not play when the Red Deer Polytechnic Queens won the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Women’s Hockey Championship.
It was their first title in six years and Lajeunesse could only watch from the sidelines after breaking her ankle earlier in the season.
On Friday night the 22-year-old scored in overtime in Game 3 of the 2023 ACAC Women’s Hockey Championship to defeat the NAIT Ooks 2-1 in Edmonton and sweep the series. It’s also their second consecutive championship title.
“I’m proud of my teammates for all the work we put into this. It feels really nice having all of our hard work and dedication pay off,” she said.
“Repeating it definitely not an easy thing to do. However, right from day one we all had the same goal in mind we were all dedicated and willing to give up some stuff that I believe other teams weren’t.
“It was such a great group of girls so meshing with them well it wasn’t a job going to the rink. It was fun.”
Coming into the series the Queens were the underdogs up against the number-one-seeded NAIT Ooks. Despite that, Red Deer swept their opponents and Lajeunesse credited their defensive effort.
“As Kelly [Coulter head coach] always says defence wins championships. We really made sure that was a key component of our game just protecting our defensive zone… With good defence we always got the chances offensively,” she added.
After Queens forward Natalie Buttle opened the scoring in the first period NAIT found the equalizer with a minute and a half left in the second period.
Lajeunesse explained when NAIT tied it they felt a bit defeated but felt like they had plenty left in the tank for the rest of the game.
“When I came around the net and I tucked it in it was just a big sigh of relief that we were able to get the job done,” she said.
“So many of us returned as champions so we all knew what it took to be a champion again.”
It was without question the biggest goal of her young hockey career and she hopes to continue the momentum into her final season next year. She had a big season leading the Queens with eight goals and 14 points. In the playoffs, she was just as effective leading the ACAC alongside teammate Abby Soyko with six points each.
Goaltender Tanya Disotell-Dunsmore also had a big game Friday, making 30 saves to help the Queens earn the title.
The second-year netminder started all three games in the championship series and even got a shutout in Game 1.
Dunsmore explained the feeling of winning another title is amazing and that the whole team worked hard all year long.
“It was well deserved,” she said.
“It was a huge team effort and thank gosh Avery buried it at the end in overtime. There was just so much pressure and we were able to get the job done.”
Dunsmore added when NAIT got the equalizer she focused on resetting her mind which is a mentality she said is important for goaltenders to have.
“I think that really helped and we had the better mental side of the two teams. We ended up pulling through and getting the win,” Dunsmore said.
In the semi-finals, fellow goaltender Izzy Palumbo got the start in the net for all three games against Olds. Dunsmore said when the coaching staff decided to start her in the finals she was grateful for the opportunity.
The two netminders were two of the best in the league this year and led the league in goals against average in the regular season and playoffs.
“It’s really nice having a good goalie dynamic because it makes everything easier and you’re just there to support each other,” she said.