For the first time in her life, Sarah Wozniewicz will have to spend Christmas away from home. Not that she’ll mind, though – the Edge School hockey star will be in Bratislava, Slovakia for the International Ice Hockey Federation’s World U18 Women's Hockey Championship.
The 16-year-old forward was named to the Canada roster Nov. 25, after impressing Hockey Canada scouts throughout an intensive selection process that began last spring.
"I have never been away from home, due to hockey, around Christmas time," said Wozniewicz, who leads the Edge Mountaineers’ female prep team in scoring, as of Dec. 11, with 11 goals and 19 points in 10 games.
"It will be exciting to play hockey overseas for the first time. My mom is going to make the trip to Slovakia, plus my two aunts and four cousins from Scotland are all going to come watch, as well. It will be nice having a lot of family there to support me."
The Cochrane native has excelled for the Edge since last season, when she ended the campaign as the team’s leading scorer with 23 goals and 35 points. Her offence helped the team enjoy its best-ever season in 2018-19, making it all the way to the Canadian Sport School Hockey League’s 2019 championship game before losing 2-0 in the final to Pursuit of Excellence.
While the world championships will mark her first time competing outside North America, Wozniewicz is familiar with international competition. The trip to Europe will be her second time donning the maple leaf – she was called up last summer to Canada’s national U18 squad for the international rivalry series against the United States. Wozniewicz scored one goal and tallied an assist in the three games.
"I think it was a great experience to be able to learn and play at that pace of hockey," she said. "I think this will help me at the tournament because I somewhat know what to expect, as I played at this level in the summer."
Wozniewicz also has plenty of provincial and national experience after suiting up for Alberta at the U18 national championships in November and as the youngest member of the U18 Alberta team that won gold at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in February. Despite being just 15 at the time, she led in scoring and tallied the winning goal in the semi-finals to book the squad’s berth in the gold-medal game.
The world championships will kick off Dec. 26 and conclude Jan. 2, 2020. Canada is in a pool with Russia, Finland and the United States.
Despite some tough opponents in the round robin, Canada is expected to do well in Slovakia, as the team has always made the podium at the event. Canada’s haul throughout the years has included gold in five tournaments, silver in six and bronze in one.
Wozniewicz said she's not sure what to expect.
"There are obviously a lot of moving parts to it,” she said. “It would be nice to win a medal."
-with files from the Cochrane Eagle
