UOIT WOMEN'S HOCKEY

UOIT Ridgebacks Media Release
Thursday, April 24, 2008

RIDGEBACKS WOMEN’S HOCKEY CONTINUES TO BUILD FOR NEXT SEASON

Oshawa (OUA) – UOIT women’s hockey head coach Gary Pitcher has announced the addition of three new players who will suit up for the Ridgebacks for the 2008-09 season. Pitcher addressed several needs with the new additions who include defenseman Kara Carter (Whitby, ON), forward Vanessa Johnstone (Niagara Falls, ON) and goaltender Emma Thompson (Hastings, ON).

Kara Carter will join the Ridgebacks after a successful minor hockey career. Most recently, Carter played on the blueline for the Whitby Junior Wolves playing in all 36 games this season. She helped lead the team to a title at the Durham-West Light Tournament, beating out some of the best teams across the province. Along with playing for the Wolves, Carter has also played with the Willowdale Red Wings and the East Enders AA team (boys).

Assistant coach Scott Barker will look to the newly acquired stay-at-home defenseman to maintain the blueline with her consistent play; “Kara is the type of player every team needs. She knows the position very well and plays a non-flashy consistent game night in and night out.”

Forward Vanessa Johnstone will be looked upon to add an offensive spark for UOIT in 2008-09. An all-around great athlete, Johnstone has excelled at the high school varsity level, as she has won numerous championships playing hockey, tennis, badminton and baseball. As team captain of the women’s hockey team, Johnstone has led her team three zone championship titles and a SOSSA Championship. Fans can expect the speedy forward to boost the Ridgebacks offense, which needs to improve of the 43 goals scored last year.

Pitcher is confident that Johnstone will make an immediate impact in the Ridgeback’s lineup; “Vanessa has the skill-set to become an impact player right away in the OUA,” remarked the head coach. “The Ridgebacks coaching staff has followed her progress and we are confident she is going to fit well with our team for several years to come.”

Goaltender Emma Thompson of Hastings rounds out the new group of players who will look to help build the UOIT hockey Program. 
Thompson joins the Ridgebacks after playing with the Durham-West and Peterborough minor hockey programs where she managed to build quite an impressive resume.

Most notably, her team placed second at the Ontario Winter Games this past March, as they managed to beat Toronto 1-0 in triple overtime of the semi-final match up. She also posted an extraordinary 1.12 goals against average in 50 games throughout this season.

”Thompson will be competing for the starters role immediately this fall at training camp,” said Barker. “We are excited to have a player of Emma’s caliber in the lineup for next season.”

Pitcher noted that he is happy with all of the new additions is a great start, but feels there still a few more holes to be filled.
 
“I would like to make a couple of improvements to our offense before the start of the season,” noted Pitcher. “Establishing a consistent scoring attack was a concern for our team last year, but I am confident that with a few more additions that we will have that concerned addressed. We are in serious talks with some top end offensive players and we are confident that the finals pieces will be in place soon.”

Look for the UOIT Ridgebacks 2008-09 men’s and women’s hockey schedules to be released within the upcoming weeks as the team prepares for it’s second season in OUA play.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Scott Dennis
Sports Information and Marketing Coordinator
Durham College and UOIT Athletics
905.721.2000 Ext. 2784
scott.dennis@dc-uoit.ca