Bishop’s women win first national hockey title
By William Crooks
The Bishop’s Gaiters women’s hockey team has made history, capturing their first national championship with a 3–0 shutout over the Waterloo Warriors at the 2025 U SPORTS Women’s Hockey Championship on Mar. 23 in Elmira, Ont.
As first reported by John Edwards for U SPORTS, the Gaiters were led by a 27-save shutout from goaltender Ericka Gagnon and a three-point night from captain Gabrielle Santerre. The win caps a remarkable rise for the young Bishop’s program, which joined U SPORTS in 2021 and has now claimed the Golden Path Trophy in just its fourth season.
“We’re living the dream right now,” said head coach Valérie Bois to The Record the morning after the game. “It still hasn’t sunk in.”
The Gaiters faced a hostile, sold-out crowd of 1,482 fans—mostly cheering for host team Waterloo—but they weren’t alone. Bois estimated that over 40 Bishop’s parents and supporters travelled from Lennoxville to cheer on the purple and silver in person.
The first half of the championship game was a defensive battle, with both teams struggling to create quality scoring chances. Gagnon and Waterloo’s Kara Mark, who stopped 28 shots, were perfect through the first period and most of the second. Then, at 11:29 of the middle frame, Santerre broke the deadlock with a blistering slap shot from the slot that found the top corner.
Waterloo responded with pressure, but Gagnon stood firm. The Warriors continued to push in the third, keeping the outcome in doubt until the final minutes. With 2:45 remaining, Santerre collected the puck deep in her own zone and, while being checked, fired a long lead pass to sophomore forward Gabrielle Rousseau. Rousseau made no mistake, scoring top shelf to give Bishop’s the insurance they needed.
Waterloo pulled their goalie in a last-ditch effort, but it was veteran Maude Pépin who iced the game with an empty-net goal. A second-team All-Canadian and one of the longest-serving players on the squad, Pépin joined the Gaiters when they first entered U SPORTS.
Bishop’s outshot Waterloo 29–27, with both teams going 0-for-3 on the power play. Gagnon and Mark were named players of the game. Santerre, who added two assists to her game-winning goal, was named Tournament MVP. She joined Gagnon and defenceman Regan Garreau on the championship all-star team.
The path to the championship wasn’t an easy one. The Gaiters opened the tournament with a matchup against UBC, who entered ranked No. 1 in the country. “It was a tough game to start,” said Bois. “But after we beat UBC, the girls started believing more. I think before the final, nobody really thought we were going to win.”
For Bois, team unity and depth were the keys to victory. “Since the beginning of the year, we’ve been saying we don’t want just one star. We want to play as a team and use all our depth. We truly believe in that.”
That belief showed on the ice. “All the girls finally understood a lot of things at the same time. The chemistry was there. We respected the game plan and played very well for 60 minutes,” Bois said.
The championship marks Bishop’s first U SPORTS title in any sport since the men’s basketball team won in 1998, and only the fourth national banner in the university’s history. For Waterloo, the silver medal was their first podium finish in U SPORTS women’s hockey and an improvement on last year’s fourth-place result.
Looking ahead, the Gaiters remain in strong shape. Despite losing seven seniors to graduation, the core of the team—including Rousseau and Gagnon—is expected to return next season, along with a group of new recruits. “We’ve got a big, strong core coming back,” said Bois.
In the meantime, players will take a few weeks to rest before heading back into the gym for summer training. After a season like this one, the Gaiters know exactly what they’re capable of.
