March 4, 2006
HAWKS GOALTENDING TRADITION CONTINUES
ST. CATHARINES - All elite athletes face pressure. But Laurier Golden Hawks goalie Morgan Wielgosz had a different type of challenge throughout the 2005/06 OUA women's hockey season - she had to follow in the footsteps of the best player in the league. Instead of succumbing to the potential strain involved with replacing Cindy Eadie, the league MVP who backstopped the Hawks to a national championship last year, Wielgosz has carved out her own reputation for phenomenal play between the pipes. Laurier returns to the Final Four this weekend with a chance to win a third straight OUA banner and the second-year Dorchester, ON native has been one of the main reasons the Hawks have the opportunity to be crowned champions again. Watching Eadie in a full year as an understudy has apparently paid off.
"I was able to watch her play and gain experience," Wielgosz says of her season as Eadie's backup. "Her dedication to the game is impressive and she was able to pass on a lot of knowledge to me."
That relationship has continued this season as Laurier ran away with the regular season title. Eadie joined head coach Rick Osborne's coaching staff and has been able to continue to mentor Wielgosz. The Hawks didn't miss a beat with the first-year starter controlling the back end - Wielgosz posted a 14-1-1 record with an anemic 1.14 goals against average (tops in the CIS) and a .947 save percentage. She gave up just 18 goals in 16 games and her play has made an impression on Eadie.
"Over the course of the year, Morgan has really developed as a complete goalie," says the 2005 MVP, suggesting that Wielgosz was the perfect netminder to step in and assume the role. "Physically, she has stepped things up and her mental game has developed, as well. As a backup, you tend to get nervous when you go into a game but mentally, she's tougher. She has the confidence of a starter."
"I knew she would have the nerves of steel," adds Osborne.
Wielgosz started out as a ringette player at the age of six. She got the odd turn as a goaltender and by 13, she moved on to hockey, eventually playing with the London Devilettes as a 15-year-old Bantam and then as a 17-year-old in Junior. Prior to joining the Laurier program, she played with the Bluewater Junior Hawks and won back-to-back provincial championships. Wielgosz has always displayed speed and athleticism in the net. She reads the puck well and is effective in employing what Eadie calls a "patient butterfly style." While the foundation was in place, Wielgosz also developed a genuine appreciation for the position early and that passion is evident in the way she plays the game.
"We would rotate in ringette," she says. "I said I'd play net and I fell in love with it. It's a thrill and an adrenalin rush."
It's also occasionally dangerous and Wielgosz got a lesson in that back on January 26 when she was hurt in a 2-1 win over the Guelph Gryphons, the team Laurier meets in the semi-final round today in St. Catharines. It's always a physical game between the two rivals and on that night, Wielgosz suffered a mild concussion when she went down to make a save in her crease and was hit in a scrum. She missed three games, the first of which was a surprising 5-2 Hawks loss to the Western Mustangs. In her return, Laurier also lost to the second-seeded Queen's Golden Gaels 4-2. But Wielgosz had an emphatic response to that outing, pitching two straight shutouts against Brock and York to close the regular season on a high.
"I got the rest I needed," she says. "I worked hard in physio. The first game back was a little tough but I'm feeling 100 per cent."
"We missed her a little when she was gone," says Eadie.
With Wielgosz back to her normal self and a staunch defensive unit that features veteran rearguards like Lauren Meschino and Ashley Stephenson keeping the crease clear, lighting the lamp against the Hawks won't be easy. Wielgosz has worked hard to have her shot after seeing the standard Eadie and the 2005 squad set. Now it's her turn.
"She didn't need a whole lot of advice," Eadie says of her star pupil. "She's a natural."
- OUA -
(Photo: Laurier goalie Morgan Wielgosz has had a standout year in her first season as the Hawks starter. Photo by Ari Grossman.)
"I was able to watch her play and gain experience," Wielgosz says of her season as Eadie's backup. "Her dedication to the game is impressive and she was able to pass on a lot of knowledge to me."
That relationship has continued this season as Laurier ran away with the regular season title. Eadie joined head coach Rick Osborne's coaching staff and has been able to continue to mentor Wielgosz. The Hawks didn't miss a beat with the first-year starter controlling the back end - Wielgosz posted a 14-1-1 record with an anemic 1.14 goals against average (tops in the CIS) and a .947 save percentage. She gave up just 18 goals in 16 games and her play has made an impression on Eadie.
"Over the course of the year, Morgan has really developed as a complete goalie," says the 2005 MVP, suggesting that Wielgosz was the perfect netminder to step in and assume the role. "Physically, she has stepped things up and her mental game has developed, as well. As a backup, you tend to get nervous when you go into a game but mentally, she's tougher. She has the confidence of a starter."
"I knew she would have the nerves of steel," adds Osborne.
Wielgosz started out as a ringette player at the age of six. She got the odd turn as a goaltender and by 13, she moved on to hockey, eventually playing with the London Devilettes as a 15-year-old Bantam and then as a 17-year-old in Junior. Prior to joining the Laurier program, she played with the Bluewater Junior Hawks and won back-to-back provincial championships. Wielgosz has always displayed speed and athleticism in the net. She reads the puck well and is effective in employing what Eadie calls a "patient butterfly style." While the foundation was in place, Wielgosz also developed a genuine appreciation for the position early and that passion is evident in the way she plays the game.
"We would rotate in ringette," she says. "I said I'd play net and I fell in love with it. It's a thrill and an adrenalin rush."
It's also occasionally dangerous and Wielgosz got a lesson in that back on January 26 when she was hurt in a 2-1 win over the Guelph Gryphons, the team Laurier meets in the semi-final round today in St. Catharines. It's always a physical game between the two rivals and on that night, Wielgosz suffered a mild concussion when she went down to make a save in her crease and was hit in a scrum. She missed three games, the first of which was a surprising 5-2 Hawks loss to the Western Mustangs. In her return, Laurier also lost to the second-seeded Queen's Golden Gaels 4-2. But Wielgosz had an emphatic response to that outing, pitching two straight shutouts against Brock and York to close the regular season on a high.
"I got the rest I needed," she says. "I worked hard in physio. The first game back was a little tough but I'm feeling 100 per cent."
"We missed her a little when she was gone," says Eadie.
With Wielgosz back to her normal self and a staunch defensive unit that features veteran rearguards like Lauren Meschino and Ashley Stephenson keeping the crease clear, lighting the lamp against the Hawks won't be easy. Wielgosz has worked hard to have her shot after seeing the standard Eadie and the 2005 squad set. Now it's her turn.
"She didn't need a whole lot of advice," Eadie says of her star pupil. "She's a natural."
- OUA -
(Photo: Laurier goalie Morgan Wielgosz has had a standout year in her first season as the Hawks starter. Photo by Ari Grossman.)
