Jason La Rose
All season long, the Stoney Creek Sabres leaned on their offence. Across 22 regular-season games, no team in the Southern League of the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association (OWHA) scored more than the Sabres—67 goals in all.
But when the stakes got higher, Stoney Creek turned to the age-old adage: defence wins championships.
And now they’re headed back to the Esso Cup.
The Sabres earned the OWHA provincial title with a dominant defensive display. They finished perfect in a six-games-in-four-days sprint, allowing only two goals in all.
They blanked Owen Sound 5-0 in their preliminary-round opener and Kingston 1-0 in the prelim finale before posting consecutive 1-0 victories over Oakville and Cambridge in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively.
The shutout streak came to a close in a 4-1 win over Durham West in the gold medal game, but the result mattered a whole lot more than the number in the goals-against column.
Among the 43 teams that compete in the OWHA Southern League, only two came within seven goals of the Sabres. But let’s not discount the defensive effort in the regular season; Stoney Creek allowed only 24 goals in its 22 games. That was tied for the third-best mark in the league, two back of the Mississauga Hurricanes.
Now the Sabres turn their attention to a second Esso Cup trip in the last four years. In 2023, Stoney Creek cruised to Canada’s U18 Women’s National Club Championship in Prince Albert, going a perfect 7-0 and outscoring the opposition 29-10 (with four of the goals allowed coming in the final game).
A repeat performance in Dieppe would make the Sabres just the second team (after the St. Albert Slash) to win multiple national championships and give Ontario its sixth, which would be the most of any region.
HOW THEY GOT TO DIEPPE
Ontario Women’s Hockey League Preliminary round: 1st place in Pool B – 3-0 (defeated Owen Sound Ice Hawks 5-0, defeated Markham-Stouffville Stars 2-1, defeated Kingston Ice Wolves 1-0) Quarterfinal: defeated Oakville Hornets 1-0 Semifinal: defeated Cambridge Roadrunners 1-0 Final: defeated Durham West Lightning 4-1
REGULAR SEASON
Record (W-L-T): 13-3-6 (3rd in OWHA South) Goals for: 67 (1st in OWHA South) Goals against: 24 (T-3rd in OWHA South) Longest winning streak: 5 (Jan. 5-Feb. 12)
PLAYOFFS
Record: 6-0 Goals for: 14 Goals against: 2
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
2014 – Stoney Creek Sabres | 4th place | 4-3 | 22GF 13GA 2019 – Stoney Creek Sabres | bronze medal | 4-3 | 24GF 19GA 2023 – Stoney Creek Sabres | gold medal | 7-0 | 29GF 10GA
UNIVERSITY COMMITMENTS
Molly Armstrong (Niagara University) Ryleigh O’Brien (Davenport University)