Lady Dragons march into Grand Final

22 January 2024

Back-to-back shut-outs send Beijing home empty-handed

KRS Shenzhen is on its way to the Grand Final in its first season in the Chinese Women’s Hockey League. Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Beijing completed a 2-0 semi-final series victory – no goals allowed in 120 minutes’ play – to keep the Lady Dragons on course for the title.

Shenzhen was the hot favorite ahead of the semi-final. In three rounds of group stage play, our girls went undefeated and dominated the opposition at every stage. However, Beijing had asked some questions along the way, and provided one of the tougher opponents in the first round of this year’s championship.

In game one, Beijing again proved that they can be an obstinate rival. It took some time to get a grip on the game, but second-period goals from Ryleigh Houston and Danielle Fox made the different. Kaitlyn Tougas had assists on both tallies. Wang Yuqing made 19 saves for her shut-out, taking the post-game plaudits from head coach Ivo Mocek and goalscorer Houston. There was also praise for a tireless performance from Zhu Rui. The 25-year-old Harbin native didn’t get among the points, but she was found all over the ice making things happen to help the team to victory.

Getting a winning start in any series is vital. When the match-up in question is a best-of-three affair, it’s all the more important. Just 24 hours after that successful start to the playoffs, Shenzhen faced Beijing again, this time with qualification up for grabs.

Once again, a shut-out provided the foundation for a great KRS win. He Siye stopped 17 Beijing shots, and at the other end we had three goals to progress to this year’s final. Houston opened the scoring, Zhu doubled that lead – a fitting reward for all her hard work this weekend – then Yu Baiwei finished it off with an empty net goal. Yu serves as team captain here: the 35-year-old is the veteran on the roster and her experience dates all the way back to China’s appearance at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010. After she helped to win the Russian Women’s Hockey League title in 2022 and led China back to the World Championship elite last season, it would be huge for her to finish this season with a domestic title at home.

With no third game required, tomorrow is a rest day for the team. The final series, again best of three, is due to take place next week – stay tuned for more news of how the Dragons get along as they seek yet another national title.