Women’s Worlds Preview: Canada vs. Sweden

Sophie Jaques had plans to pursue a profession in civil engineering.

Instead, the 23-year-old finds herself dwelling out her dream as a
skilled hockey participant with PWHL Minnesota.

“It’s been a really exciting time for women’s hockey,” Jaques says. “It’s
been nice to play alongside the most effective gamers on the earth and study from
all their experiences.”

Jaques was born in Toronto and grew up within the metropolis’s west finish, the place she
developed an early love for hockey.

“I started playing hockey at Rennie Park by my house,” she remembers. “I
actually favored it, so my dad and mom put me in a learn-to-play program and I fell
in love with the sport from there.

“I keep in mind at all times having a smile on my face and having fun with the time with my
mates, having fun with scorching chocolate and people little issues like leaping into
the snowbank after the Zamboni got here off the ice.”

While attending Silverthorn Collegiate in Etobicoke, Jaques performed three
seasons with the Toronto Aeros of the Provincial Women’s Hockey League — now
referred to as the Ontario Women’s Hockey League — profitable league championships in
2016 and 2018.

Jaques remembers spending numerous hours engaged on her recreation all through her
early years.

“I went to a whole lot of capturing clinics after I was youthful, engaged on my shot
within the yard, and I believe that helped take my shot to the following degree and
[it is] one thing I proceed to make use of each time I step on the ice now.”

That degree of dedication is what helped set Jaques aside, whether or not it was
hockey or teachers — one thing that grew to become extraordinarily evident in her 5
seasons at Ohio State University.

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Making historical past at OSU

Jaques’ teammates and coaches in Columbus describe her as an easygoing and
good student-athlete, but it surely was on the ice the place her character and
power shone by means of with the Buckeyes.

“Things come naturally for Sophie,” says Nadine Muzerall, girls’s hockey
head coach at Ohio State. “Seeing her maturity develop through the years, her
confidence was an enormous piece of that progress, and discovering success on the ice,
she grew to become a frontrunner.”

As a rookie in 2018-19, she led all OSU rookies with 21 factors (6-15—21)
earlier than topping that with 24 factors (9-15—24) as a sophomore.

After posting simply two targets and 4 factors in 20 video games in the course of the
COVID-affected 2020-21 season, Jaques exploded as a senior. her 59 factors
(21-38—59) in 38 video games rank because the second-most by a defender in Western
Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) historical past and essentially the most in Ohio State
historical past. Her contributions led the Buckeyes to their first NCAA nationwide
championship and put the ladies’s hockey world on discover.

“It finally all just clicked that season,” says Jaques. “I developed extra
confidence in myself, and it allowed me to play at my greatest. The subsequent season,
I wished to show that it wasn’t a one-off season, that it wasn’t a fluke
that senior season, and that I may play that means.”

Jaques returned for a fifth yr and picked up proper the place she left off. Not
solely did she earn a fellowship from OSU to fund her closing yr to finish
her grasp’s diploma in civil engineering, Jaques put up one other 48 factors
(24-24—48) in 41 video games, changing into the primary Black girl and solely the tenth
Canadian to be awarded the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award as the most effective girls’s
hockey participant within the NCAA.

“She’s among the best defencemen to play school hockey and the truth that
she joined earlier than OSU was primary within the nation, and he or she helped construct
this program, that claims so much about her character and being a builder,”
Muzerall says.

Jaques crammed her trophy case at Ohio State; along with the Kazmaier
Award, she was a two-time First Team All-American, two-time WCHA Defender of
the Year, WCHA Player of the Year, WCHA Outstanding Student-Athlete and a
four-time member of the WCHA All-Academic Team.

In 2022, she received the Arthur Ashe Jr. Female Sport Scholar of the Year, an
honour offered to a minority girl who has distinguished herself in her
educational and athletic pursuits..

“I’ve coached lots of people who had success, however I’ve very not often coached
somebody as profitable as Sophie,” says Muzerall. “In phrases of level
manufacturing as a defenceman, she’s the one particular person from Ohio State and all
its revered applications to win the Arthur Ashe award, and he or she humbly accepted
it. She was receiving nationwide recognition, not simply as a hockey participant, however
as a superb student-athlete, and that has by no means been completed earlier than.”

2022 NCAA National Champion.
The first Buckeye Kazmaier winner.
The first Black Kazmaier winner.

Sophie Jaques is a first-mover, who by no means stands nonetheless which is why she is tonight’s Match Ignitor.#Crew96 ✘ @OhioStateWHKY pic.twitter.com/nUBOhmbfff

— The Crew (@ColumbusCrew) April 30, 2023

Reaching out to the neighborhood

Jaques’ achievements on and off the ice as a student-athlete solely grew the
recreation as her affect and management had been felt among the many younger women and
boys locally.

After ending her school profession final spring, Jaques returned house to
Toronto to crew up with Saroya Tinker to host the primary Black Girl Hockey
Club Canada summer time camp, sharing her information and expertise with the following
era locally she grew up in.

“At the start, it was one thing that I didn’t actually know was occurring,
however I’m grateful to be within the place the place I can encourage others,” Jaques
says. “I wish to assist get extra women into hockey, and hopefully break down
extra obstacles surrounding the sport. It’s unimaginable to know now that I can
play a small half in persevering with to develop the sport.”

Her attain solely grew final November when she made her debut for Canada’s
National Women’s Team in Los Angeles in the course of the Rivalry Series.

“It was an incredibly grateful feeling to represent my country,” Jaques
says. “Playing alongside somebody like Jocelyn Larocque, who I watched after I
was a younger woman, and being round all these women who’ve been pioneers
for the ladies’s recreation, to lastly get the prospect to put on that jersey with
that group, was unimaginable.”

Emma Maltais, who performed with Jaques at Ohio State, was very happy to
welcome her good friend to the nationwide crew. Before the sport, it was Maltais who
handed Jaques her Team Canada jersey.

“Sophie’s been dreaming of that moment for a long time,” says Maltais.
“She’s so humble and for somebody who’s so good, there’s a calmness to her
whereas she performs at such a excessive degree. She’s so pushed as an individual too, in
athletics and teachers, and that speaks so much to her as an individual and her
willingness to go the additional mile to search out success.”

Trailblazer as soon as once more

After her excellent school profession, Jaques made historical past by changing into the
first-ever Black participant and the primary Buckeye to be drafted into the PWHL
when she was taken tenth total by Boston — one thing that wasn’t even an
choice for her a yr in the past.

She made historical past as soon as once more earlier this month by being a part of the very
first PWHL commerce when she was dealt to Minnesota.

“I’m actually grateful that this yr, it’s a sustainable league with
habitable wages in order that I may pursue hockey,” she says. “With the PWHL being here, it helps with the next generation of Black hockey players see representation and show them that it is possible and keep them motivated in their journeys.”