Laurier hockey goaltender and Shakespeare, Ont., native Cohen Myers has been a constant presence for the women's hockey team during her time at Laurier. Much of the team's success has been tied to her solid play between the pipes.

In her fourth and final season with the purple and gold, the fifth-year sociology major has been a strong leader for the team since she started in 2017. A two-time team MVP and a U Sports Academic All-Canadian in 2019/20, she is now preparing for the future.

"I have learned about myself and my study habits, when I'm most productive and how I work my best, so I wake up in the morning and get all my schoolwork done before practice so that I can focus on hockey and also have some time to myself in the evening," said Myers.

Laurier's Manager of women's hockey operations and head coach Kelly Paton emphasized Myers' consistent progress over the years, especially coming into this season, where there was an evident improvement in her fitness and athletic abilities after the pause in on-ice action.

"Ironically, it came from a year off with the pandemic and all these factors that would typically work against you but have benefited her and given her a chance to reflect, understand where her strengths are, and apply those daily," Paton explained.

Through the turmoil of the pandemic and countless interruptions, Myers has continued to persevere and turn the experience into something positive. 

"My whole life I've grown up in a team setting where you're with the team all the time and you have set times you need to go to things, whereas now I've been forced to train on my own and motivate myself, so I think that it's been positive in that way," she said.

Myers attributed a lot of her improvement on an athletic level to the work she has done on her mental game. 

"In my position especially, it's very mental because you have to be able to put things behind you and, if you let in a goal, you need to be able to shake it off. If my team isn't producing goals, I can't control that. I think my mental game improving so much over these past two years has kept me on track," Myers explained.

Paton has seen Meyers' growth translate onto the ice and is confident that this is her strongest year so far. 

"In that senior year pocket, that's when you should be playing your best hockey and I think Cohen's a good testament to that," Paton said.

She also pointed out the lofty expectations that have been put in place by Laurier's history in women's hockey. 

"One of the key things about our program is we do have such a strong history especially when it comes to winning championships and, part of that, was a strong eight years of goaltending by Liz Knox and Cindy Eadie - who have both been inducted into the Golden Hawks Hall of Fame." 

She noted that, without the interruptions, Meyer's may have matched (or surpassed) some of Knox and Eadie's career statistics, especially with her current season save percentage of .941. She already holds the school record for most saves in a season (602 in 2018) and sits fourth all-time in minutes played with over 3,000. Meyers also ranks third all-time in saves made (1,423).

"I do think she has stats that demonstrate that she's been a top contender in her position in our league, especially for the last couple of years. That's something she can be proud of when she graduates from Laurier," Paton said.

Of late, Myers has also developed an interest in coaching other goaltenders. She feels this might be her way of staying involved in the sport, even if her competitive days in the crease are over. 

"Coach Paton has helped me realize this, as well as my goalie coach, Nathan Craze, who helped my mental side of the game more than any other coach had. They led me to realize this is a fascinating sport in which there is a lot to learn. I know now that I could give to younger goalies that want the same experiences."

All things aside, the Hawks still have an opportunity to finish this season on a high note and prove that they have utilized this time off in a positive way. Myers is looking forward to picking up where she left off and making the most of her last year in net for the Hawks. 

"We were all a little nervous being off for over a month again, so it feels a bit like starting over. I know everyone on the team, myself included, has been working hard off the ice. I'm excited to get back at it and finish the season off strong."