Shenzhen storms through stage two

18 December 2023

The Lady Dragons enjoyed another great tournament, sweeping all-comers in the second stage of the Chinese Women’s Hockey Championship.

After leaving Qiqihar with a 100% record, KRS Shenzhen moved on to Harbin and reeled off another perfect sequence of six wins from six games. And, once again, there were some high-scoring displays and some strong goaltending as the Dragons dominated.

The most striking feature of the tournament was the KRS defense. Through six games, we allowed just one goal (in an opening 8-1 victory over Shanghai). Wang Yuqing was perfect, with two games, two shut-outs and 25 saves in total. Prospect Song Tianxin, just 18 years of age, made her first appearance of the season, and backstopped a 3-0 win over Sichuan. He Siye had the heaviest workload, playing three games. Although she allowed the only goal that went against us, she also played a crucial role in securing our toughest win of the week against Beijing.

That Beijing game finished 3-0. However, in a competition that saw most opponents struggle to really disrupt our game, the team from the capital hung around. It was scoreless through 40 minutes, and the 19 shots that He had to save represented the most active offense KRS faced in the competition. Kaitlyn Tougas eventually broke the deadlock and set us on the way to victory. Encouragingly, we also had good contributions from our homegrown players. Liu Zhixin and Wen Lu got the second and third markers, with Fang Xin and Fu Chunyang picking up helpers.

That was a common thread throughout the competition. Yu Baiwei, one of several Harbin natives on the team, enjoyed her trip back home. Our captain contributed 5 (2+3) points in the tournament, including an assist again the Harbin team. Fellow blue liner Zhao Qinan had even more fun against the city of her birth, putting up 2+2 in a 7-0 win. There were other notable performances from the likes of Xu Jiachao, awarded the lion hat for best player in the 3-0 win over Sichuan in recognition for her efforts in moving from defense to offense for the first time in some years to help the team rotate players during a demanding schedule.

Of course, the team’s imports also played a big part. Ryleigh Houston was our top scorer with 14 (4+10) points, just ahead of Tougas on 13 (8+5). Danielle Fox continues to thrive in her first season as a pro and she had 10 (4+6). On defense, Minttu Tuominen contributed 2+6, and Kiana Wilkinson had four assists through the week.

Ivo Mocek and his team get a short break now, but the next round of the tournament is something we’ve waited a long time to see. KRS Shenzhen gets to go home at last, playing the third round of the championship in our own Universiade Arena. It will be the first time our club gets to play on home ice since early 2020 (although we had international action there for our promotion-winning World Championship campaign in August) and we can’t wait to get back to our fans and extend our winning streak. Stage three of the championship is due to start at the end of this month and will run into January – make it your New Year’s resolution to check it out!

Results:

Dec. 9: Shanghai 1 KRS Shenzhen 8
Dec. 10: Qiqihar 0 KRS Shenzhen 4
Dec. 11: Beijing 0 KRS Shenzhen 3
Dec. 14: KRS Shenzhen 7 Harbin 0
Dec. 15: KRS Shenzhen 3 Sichuan 0
Dec. 16: KRS Shenzhen 8 Hebei 0