Gia Caul got the nod as the Most Valuable Player in the provincial AAA bantam female hockey league this season as the captain of the Western Warriors.
The Stephenville native also helped Team Western capture gold in female hockey at the 2018 Newfoundland and Labrador Winter Games last week in Deer Lake.
The next stop for the offensive force is a shot at a gold medal in Mount Pearl.
Caul, a Grade 9 student at Stephenville High School, has been added to the roster for the Western Warriors AAA female midget hockey team representing the province at the Atlantic AAA Female Midget Hockey Championship March 29 to April 1 at the Glacier in Mount Pearl.
“I’m super excited to represent Newfoundland. I’m ready to play,” Caul said Tuesday afternoon.
Colin Carroll, coach of the Western Warriors bound for Mount Pearl, believed Caul was a great fit for the team because she is familiar with a lot of the girls on the team who hail from the Stephenville area and she has a skillset that he believes would help his team make a run at gold.
Caul was listed as alternate and played three games for the team. Her impact was felt as she popped in five goals during those three games on a road trip to the east coast early in the season.
“She fit in like a glove,” coach Carroll said of the shifty forward.
Caul knows she brings an offensive touch to the team so she knows scoring goals is something the team expects from her so she’s going to do her best to deliver.
She battled an injury earlier this year that prevented her from competing in the provincial AAA bantam female hockey league playoffs, but she’s rested and rearing to go now.
“Scoring goals and making smart decisions with the puck,” she said when asked what she needs to focus her mind on when she hits the ice.
The Warriors may need some knack around the net heading into a tournament where the competition is usually a step higher than what the players are used to seeing.
Red light flashing would be a sight for sore eyes.
