Abbotsford’s Hailey MacLeod and Team Canada are now 1-1 after two games at the 2022 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship in Madison, Wis.
The former Yale Secondary student was named to the team as one of its three goalies on May 30 and started in between the pipes in the team’s first game against Finland on Monday (June 6).
MacLeod was excellent in goal, making 15 saves but the team in front of her was unable to produce any offence and Canada lost 2-0. She was named the player of the game in the loss.
Canada returned to action on Tuesday (June 7) and MacLeod served as the back-up behind starting goalie Lisa Jonsson. Canada scored three consecutive goals in the game’s first two periods and cruised to a 3-1 win.
The team returns to action on Thursday (June 9) for an important final preliminary game against the United States. Canada must finish in the top two of its group to advance to the playoff round and have a chance at earning a medal.
Canada’s only pre-tournament game saw them lose 3-1 to the United States in Minnesota on June 2. All three goalies played in the game, with MacLeod stopping all seven shots she faced in the third.
The tournament has eight teams split into two groups and the top two teams from the preliminary round will advance to the playoff stage, which begins on Friday (June 10). The final is set for June 13.
The event was originally scheduled to run in January in Sweden, but the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the competition. The IIHF then announced plans for 2022 in March.
MacLeod, a former Yale Secondary student, played minor hockey in both Abbotsford and Langley before joining the Greater Vancouver Comets as an underage player. She since moved on to the Delta Hockey Academy and has continued to impress during her time at the North Delta-based program.
She has also represented B.C. at the provincial level. MacLeod has committed to the University of Minnesota Duluth and will be a Bulldog starting in the fall of 2022.
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