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| The Widnes Wild women's team in celebratory mood (Photo by Wil Evans) |
The Widnes Wild Women’s team secured the Division 2 North league title after a fascinating weekend of ice hockey saw their rivals for the crown knock each other out of contention.
Widnes actually lost their own game 13-3 away to Telford on Saturday - but that was a cup game and had no bearing on the outcome of the league, which as it turned out, was decided by results elsewhere.
The Wild Women went into the weekend leading the D2N table with 17 points from their 11 league games – and one match still to play, away to Leeds Roses on 10th May.
Sheffield Shadows were in second with 14 points from 10 games and could still snatch the title if they won their remaining games and Widnes lost away at Leeds. Leeds themselves were also still in the running with 11 points from 9 games, knowing that 3 wins in their last 3 games could possibly see them overtake Widnes on the last day of the season
Somewhat fortuitously for the Wild Women, the fixture list pitched Leeds and Sheffield up against each other in Leeds on Saturday night, with the Roses winning 5-2. That result meant that Sheffield could no longer overtake the Wild Women at the top of the league table, even if they won their last remaining game.
Leeds, however, could still snatch the title if they won their two remaining matches and could beat Widnes in the last game of the season on 10th May.
Telford – who are perennial title challengers themselves but have dropped off the pace a little this year - did the Wild Women a huge favour by holding the Roses to a 2-2 draw in Shropshire on Sunday night meaning that Leeds are now also unable to deny Widnes top spot.
The weekend results mean that the Wild Women take the league title irrespective of what happens in the remaining games of the regular season. They have also qualified for the end of season play offs, which take place over the Bank Holiday weekend of 24th to 26th May in Sheffield, where the top 2 teams in Division 2 North will compete with the top teams from Division 2 South for promotion to Division 1 for next season.
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| Karyn Cooper was MVP away at Telford (Photo by Paul Breeze) |
Saturday 3rd May 2025 – WNIHL North Cup: Telford Wrekin Raiders 13 – Widnes Wild Women 3
The Widnes Wild Women lost their final game in the WNIHL North Cup 13-3 away to Telford Wrekin Raiders on Saturday.
In competitive terms, this game was a bit of a dead rubber as neither team could win the cup, having both already lost twice to Sheffield Shadows, who are the other team in this three-way tournament, but pride was still very much on the line.
The earlier cup game between these two teams had ended in a 5-5 draw in Widnes after being abandoned early in the third period due to a player injury and with the two league meetings both going the way of Widnes - with a narrow 5-4 win at home and a 2-2 draw away in Shropshire - Telford probably felt they had a point to prove.
Telford took the lead in the 7th minute but Widnes equalised just 60 seconds later with a goal from Catherine Fell.
Telford edged back in front on 13 minutes but a strike from Karyn Cooper – her first ever goal for the Wild women - on 16 minutes levelled the scores once again. However, the Wild Women were unable to build on this and two more goals late in the period gave Telford a 4-2 lead at the first break.
The damage was all done in the second period when Telford fired in 7 goals before Widnes were able to summon up a reply. A second goal of the game from Cooper with just 3 seconds left in the period gave the travelling contingent something to cheer about but, with the score standing at 11-3 at the second interval, the game was already well and truly over as a contest.
Telford eased off the gas in the third period - quite possibly saving some energy for their league encounter with title challengers Leeds Roses the following night - and the game finished as a 13-3 win for the Raiders.
Despite the one-sided scoreline, Charlotte Jackson put in a good performance in the Widnes goal, turning away an impressive 46 of the 59 shots that she faced over the 60 minutes.
Karyn Cooper was named MVP for the Wild Women after her two goal haul, having played up front instead of in her usual defensive role in a make-shift playing line-up.
The Wild Women play their last league game of the season away to Leeds Roses this Saturday 10th May, face off 4pm. The game is being played at Bradford Ice Rink due to a lack of available ice time at Leeds.
