A pair of Lake Country skaters are coming home with gold medals around their necks.
Jade Iginla and Brooke Disher helped the Team Canada U18 women’s team skate to a 3-2 win over team U.S.A. in the gold medal game of the U18 World Championships on Monday evening (June 13) in Madison, Wisconsin.
🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇#U18Worlds | @IIHFHockey pic.twitter.com/KGJrhFgQOL
— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) June 14, 2022
The win was Canada’s second gold medal in the tournament in three years. This was the 14th U18 women’s hockey championships. Canada and the U.S. have met in the gold medal game 13 out of 14 times.
Iginla collected an assist in the win on a second period goal. She finished the tournament with a goal, two assists, and a plus three rating despite missing some time to an injury. Her dad, hockey hall of famer Jarome and the rest of her family were all in attendance.
Disher captained the team to the gold medal. She finished the tournament pointless but was a rock defensively for the team.
🏆🥇 @HockeyCanada #U18Worlds pic.twitter.com/0sI7aEeqLe
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) June 14, 2022
Both Iginla and Disher came from the Rink Hockey Academy in Kelowna, along with defenseman Sara Swiderski, who comes from Langley, B.C. Swiderski and Disher were Team Canada’s top pair on the blueline all tournament long.
Swiderski finished with an assist in the gold medal game, two assists overall, and was named one of the top defenseman of the tournament.
The three standouts are all committed to NCAA schools and hockey programs for the fall.
The future was women’s hockey in Canada is bright.
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jordy.cunningham@kelownacapnews.com
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