Ste. Anne's Raygan Kirk made 36 saves as Robert Morris University blanked Syracuse 1-0 last Saturday night in the final of the College Hockey America Tournament.

Kirk says this year was very different than her first year for a multitude of reasons. "We didn't play games until just before Christmas break, just to try and fit them in. Then, we pretty much played every single weekend trying to make up. Our league went from overall points to win percentage, so it was nailbiter to the end between the top three teams. We ended up coming in third, we didn't get the bye to playoffs for, probably the first time ever but it clearly didn't make a difference, we played three games in a row and won all three games. Won our first championship, the first one since 2017. It's a pretty amazing feeling, I must say."

The fact they could play at all, let alone go on a championship run, makes this year even more special for Kirk and her teammates. "We literally never knew... it could be our last game, it could be the last weekend. Things could get shut down, we never know. For me, I just tried to play like, if it's the last time on the ice, how do I want to finish it? Then there's the chemistry on the team, it's a really great group of girls. I'm really proud of all of us."

Coming off International Women's Day earlier in the week, Kirk was able to reflect on how far the women's game has come in the last number of years. "Just to see it from when I started compared to the role models I had growing up.... we just want to be, especially our team, be role models for the younger generation. We want to be leaders. We want to play professional hockey, just like the NHL'ers, we want to get paid for what we do as well."

Getting that championship ring is great but Kirk says there is still another mountain the team wants to climb. "The next step is the quarter-final against North Eastern Monday, 2 pm EST. It's in Erie, where we just were which is great. If we win, we go to semi's on Thursday then the final Saturday. It's being live-streamed and we're super pumped. It's crazy."

Kirk isn't sure if she's going to be starting Monday yet. "I don't know," she says with a laugh. "The coach hasn't told me yet. I'll be ready either way."