Rebecca Noble came ever-so-close to adding another gold medal on the national hockey stage.
The Grade 11 Burnsview Secondary student and starting goaltender for the Fraser Valley Rush saw her season end with a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to Ontario’s Stoney Creek Sabres in the gold medal game at the Esso Cup U18 women’s national championships on Saturday (April 29) in Prince Albert, Sask.
The Rush were trying to become the first-ever B.C. team to be crowned Canadian champions and nearly pulled it off. Madison Burr’s second of the game with just 1:20 remaining lifted the Sabres to the dramatic win.
Fraser Valley took a 3-1 lead into the third period before Stoney Creek stormed back with three unanswered goals by the 11:46 mark. Hannah Dods put the Rush back on even terms just 47 seconds later, setting the stage for the dramatic finish.
Noble was named her team’s player-of-the-game with 20 saves.
The win capped a perfect five-game run for the Sabres that included a 5-2 win over Fraser Valley back on day one of round-robin play.
The Rush advanced to the championship game after a 1-0 semi-final win over the Regina Rebels on Friday thanks to Noble’s 34-save shutout performance.
It was back in March when Noble backstopped B.C. to the gold medal at the Canada Winter Games.
She started in all six games for B.C., posting a pair of shutouts in a 3-0 win in the final against Nova Scotia.
She has one more year of eligibility with the Rush and has already committed to University of Windsor Lancers, starting in the 2024/25 USport season.
