NU Ringette team snaps up silver

While it wasn’t gold, the Nipissing University Ringette team walked away with a medal around their neck after a second-place finish at the University Challenge Cup (UCC), which wrapped up last week.

The UCC was split into two tiers, with Nipissing playing in Tier 2 along with McMaster, Guelph, Brock and Laurentian.

The UCC coincided with the World Ringette Championships which was held at Memorial Gardens and saw some of the top ringette players in the world hit the ice.

For Jeff Francom, who doubled as organizer as well as Nipissing head coach, it was a great event and all four tournaments – Worlds U-19, U16 and UCC Tier 1 and Tier 2 – went extremely well.

“The games went great.  Teams arrived from across the country safely and on time, we had excellent competitions and we were able to showcase our game in conjunction with the World Championships,” Francom, speaking as organizer said Monday. “We had 10 teams last year and 12 teams this year, so the popularity of university ringette is growing.”

Nipissing opened up the tournament with an 8-1 win over Brock, kicking things off on the right foot.

They then shutout Laurentian 7-0 in their second game, proving they’re a force, having scored 15 goals in two games, while only surrendering one.

In their third game Nipissing ran into trouble, as they were doubled up, 4-2, by Guelph, who they would meet again in the finals.

The local entry did a great job of bouncing back, earning a hard-fought 7-6 win over McMaster to put their record at 3-1.

Two more wins on the final day of the preliminary round – 5-2 over McMaster and 8-1 over Laurentian – put Nipissing in second place with a 5-1 record, with their only blemish coming at the hands of Guelph, who finished 6-0.

Nipissing, with a 5-1 record, had outscored their opponents 37-14 and set up a rematch with Guelph for the gold medal.

Unfortunately, once again, Guelph came away with the win, earning a 7-1 victory which gave them the gold and forced Nipissing to settle for silver.

Brock took home the bronze medal.

Francom said obviously he and his team wanted the gold, but said they have no reason to hang their heads after the tournament wrapped up.

“I’m so proud of our team, winning Nipissing’s first ever medal in university ringette competition. Guelph had our number in the finals, but we still had a solid tourney,” he explained. “Later this month, we get a chance for some payback when we play against Guelph in their home arena.”