Shawnigan Lake School student Morgan Jackson is back home after helping Team Canada bring home a bronze medal from the 2024 IIHF World Women’s U18 Championship.
The tournament in Zug, Switzerland, finished Sunday, with Canada taking third place after defeating Finland 8-1 in the bronze-medal match.
Canada was undefeated in the preliminary round, outscoring their opponents 29-1 over three games. The team then defeated Switzerland 6-0 in the quarter-finals before being upset by Czechia 4-2 in the semifinals.
Jackson, the only Vancouver Island athlete on Team Canada this year, earned significant ice time in all six games for Canada.
She collected nine points on five goals and four assists, the fourth-most points on Team Canada and ninth-most in the tournament.
“Morgan had an amazing tournament, and we are so proud of her,” Shawnigan U18 Prep girls head coach Carly Haggard said. “She has been the backbone of our team since she arrived at the beginning of Grade 11. Everywhere she goes, she represents the school in an outstanding manner.”
Haggard added Jackson has set the bar high for excellence within the school’s team and helped put it on the map.
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“Her work ethic, dedication, and drive are truly admirable, not only with regards to hockey but her studies as well. It has been such a pleasure and honour to coach Morgan for the last year and a half, and I am so excited to watch her for the next three months,” Haggard said.
This was Jackson’s second trip to the World Women’s U18 Championship. She played for Canada at the 2023 tournament, helping the team win a gold medal.
Jackson currently sits fourth in scoring in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League’s Female U18 Prep division with 34 points, made up of 17 goals and 17 assists, in 12 games. She is also second in the league with 2.83 points per game.
Last year, Jackson finished third in the league, scoring 58 points, made up of 25 goals and 33 assists, in 26 games. This helped Shawnigan reach the league championship
game.
“We are very proud of Morgan, not just because of her amazing athletic abilities, but equally because of her effort and humility,” Shawnigan’s director of athletics, Tim Murdy, said. “These two qualities make her an incredible role model for our younger student athletes at the School.”
Morgan is committed to play NCAA Div. 1 hockey for Northeastern University beginning in the fall.
Jackson is originally from Courtenay and previously played for the Comox Valley Minor Hockey Association and Vancouver Island Seals of the BC Elite Hockey League.
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Mackenzie Read
