X goalie glad to be back at nationals

Courtesy Glenn MacDonald, The Chronicle Herald

Katie Harvieux was there as a rookie in 2006 when St. Francis Xavier hosted its first Canadian Interuniversity Sport women’s hockey championship.

The X-Women goaltender will be there as a fifth-year veteran when the Keating Millennium Centre in Antigonish once again plays host to the national university tournament.

The Digby native said she’s fortunate to have book-ended her university career with trips to the CIS championship at her home rink.

"I was there as a rookie and I’ll be there as the wily veteran," Harvieux said with a laugh.

"The crowd was amazing back then and we’re really lucky to have the tournament back at St. F.X. The fans were crazy and the intensity was high. The first year, I probably didn’t realize the importance of it. But later on, it all dawned on me. Now, I have a lot more experience. I know to bring all that intensity this year and hopefully pass it onto our rookies and hopefully it spreads throughout our team."

Harvieux led the Atlantic conference during the regular season with a 1.32 goals against average and posted a .942 save percentage as St. F.X. finished in second place with an 18-2-4 record, three points back of the Moncton Aigles Bleues. The X-Women lost to eventual conference champion Saint Mary’s Huskies in the round-robin of the AUS championship nearly two weeks ago.

St. F.X., ranked fifth in the CIS tournament, will play its first game Friday night against the loser of Thursday night’s matchup between Wilfrid Laurier and Alberta.

With 11 rookies in the St. F.X. lineup, coach David Synishin and his staff will look to a veteran like Harvieux as a calming influence at nationals.

"There’ll be a lot of pressure but we try to relax as much as we can," said Harvieux, who wears No. 29 in honour of former Toronto Maple Leafs netminder Felix Potvin. "We have to go out and play like it’s a normal game.

"We have a couple older players that have been through that. I hope the younger girls look up to us anyway. We’ll have a team bonding heading into nationals."

St. F.X. also hosted the 2009 CIS tournament and finished fifth last year.

The Aigles Bleues made history during that tournament, winning the first medal for an Atlantic conference team

"With Moncton getting a bronze last year that really put the AUS up there in the spotlight," Harvieux said. "It should be a good tournament for our conference this year. All of the teams coming out of the AUS are a lot more ready now because the league is stronger."