CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – The UPEI Panthers have added a shutdown defender as it continues to build a team to host the women’s hockey nationals in 2019 and 2020.
Sydney Lyndon comes to the Panthers after playing the last three seasons with the Ottawa Lady Senators in the Provincial Women’s Hockey League (PWHL).
UPEI head coach Bruce Donaldson said Lyndon was used on both the power play and penalty kill last season.
“Her forte is really shutting down the big lines,” he said. “She’s got good size and she likes the physicality of the game.”
The five-foot-seven, 180-pound defenceman had three goals and eight assists for 11 points in 35 games last season.
Donaldson said he saw her play a few times in Ontario during the winter, including a tournament in Stoney Creek and in the playoffs in London.
“Her coach speaks very highly of her abilities,” Donaldson said.
Lyndon joins the Panthers as UPEI prepares to host back-to-back U SPORTS women’s hockey championships in 2019 and 2020.
“I knew I wanted to attend UPEI and play for the Panthers from the moment I arrived on campus,” said Lyndon, an 18-year-old Stittsville, Ont., native, who has been accepted into the kinesiology program. “Coach Donaldson and my future teammates welcomed me with open arms and made me feel like part of the team. I love Charlottetown — it reminds me of home. It’s a place where I can see myself learning and maturing. I am also very excited and honoured to have the opportunity to play U SPORTS hockey with the UPEI Panthers for the next few years.”
The Panthers went 7-10-7 in 2017-18 to finish sixth in the seven-team Atlantic University Sport (AUS) conference. They got swept in the best-of-three opening round of the playoffs by the St. Thomas Tommies.
The team loses five players (captain Emma Martin, Madison Clarke, Lindsay Johnston, Megan Sullivan and Sydnee Baker) from last year’s squad and Lyndon is the fifth player the university has announced that will be joining the squad in September. Baker was the AUS rookie of the year in 2017 when she had 10 goals and seven assists for 17 points in 24 games. She followed it up with nine points in 23 games this season.
“She has chosen to stay home,” Donaldson said.
The coach said he is expecting a competitive training camp with a number of walk-ons hoping to crack the lineup. The team already has 33 girls expected when training camp begins.
2018 recruiting class
A look at the women’s hockey players UPEI has announced for the upcoming season.
Position, player Hometown
D Sydney Lyndon Stittsville, Ont.
F Kelly Clements High Bank
F Taylor Gillis Summerside
G Parker McCabe Charlottetown
F Delaney Boehm East St. Paul, Man.
