Brielle Bellerive and Emma Keenan, former Okanagan Hockey Academy Female Prep players, are National Collegiate Athletic Association national champs.
The pair helped the Clarkson University Golden Knights women’s hockey team win the 2017 Frozen Four Title game on March 19. The Golden Knights will hang another NCAA Championship banner in the Cheel Arena rafters after knocking off Wisconsin 3-0. The Golden Knights stunned the No.1-seeded Badgers before an announced crowd of 3,016 fans at the Family Arena to celebrate their second National Championship in four years.
Clarkson finished its second championship season in the 14-year history of the program with a 32-4-5 overall record, including a 19-1-2 first-place ECAC Hockey mark.
On Knights website, it reported the victory brought upon the Badgers their first loss in 23 games. Clarkson is still the only team from outside the Western Collegiate Hockey Association to have ever won the NCAA Women’s Ice Hockey National Title. The Knights advanced to the pinnacle game after defeating two-time defending champion Minnesota 4-3 in Friday semifinal action.
“I couldn’t be more excited,” said Clarkson head coach Matt Desrosiers in a team statement. “This group is a resilient bunch. To think we started this season on rocky footing with a losing record and going the rest of the way only losing one game since mid-October, shows this team knew what it took to pull together. We just got better each and every week.”
Bellerive, a North Vancouver native, had three goals and four points in 41 games this season. In her previous two seasons, Bellerive has five goals and 20 points in 64 games. Keenan, a Calgary native, collected six assists in 41 games on the blueline. Last season she had a goal and seven points in 40 games.
