It’s not often athletes get a pat on the back from two-time Olympic gold medal winners, but with the way Ravens goaltender Tamber Tisdale’s season is going, it seems almost unsurprising that she did.
In an historic win Jan. 22 against the top-ranked McGill Martlets, Tisdale stopped 36 of 39 shots and five of six shootout attempts from some of the best players in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), leading her team to their first victory over McGill since interuniversity competition between the two teams began.
Following the game, the Martlets’ Olympic gold medal-winning goalie Charline Labonté told Tisdale she intimidated the team, and that Tisdale’s play was the reason for the Ravens’ success.
This defining moment comes during a breakout season for Tisdale, who is currently ranked 15th in the CIS with a .922 save percentage.
Last season, Tisdale was sidelined with a shoulder injury since early in training camp, forcing her to see only 244 minutes of ice time in which she posted a .855 save percentage.
“It took her a long time to get back into a playing groove,” said Ravens head coach Shelley Coolidge. “And by the time that she had done that, our other goalies, both Victoria Powers and Eri Kiribuchi, were playing well. So [Tisdale] felt like she was kind of a step behind.”
Since then, Tisdale has turned things around, and most of it can be attributed to her hard work and confidence.
“For her, she did a ton of work in terms of recovery and rehab and preparing to play and came back this season just a way more confident person,” Coolidge said.
So far, Tisdale’s success this season is anything but an anomaly. In a rematch of the Jan. 22 game, the Martlets crushed the Ravens Jan. 28 in a devastating 10-0 loss. Tisdale made only 12 saves on 16 shots before the coaching staff decided to pull her.
Despite this hiccup, Tisdale displayed both her confidence and ability to shrug off the failures when she saved an astounding 51 of 55 shots in the women’s next game against the Université de Montréal Carabins.
Confidence is something that repeatedly comes up in conversation with both Tisdale and her mentors, and she has worked hard to remedy both her body and her mind to take over the leading role this season.
“[Last season], I was injured for the first two months and I didn’t really have any confidence after that,” Tisdale said. “But I worked really hard this summer to get that confidence back and know that I’m playing the way I usually play. I feel like I’m one of the top goalies in this league, and I’m confident when I get on the ice.”
Tisdale said she hasn’t changed anything in her style from last season to this one, except finding a drive to train harder both mentally and physically.
“I’m just training really hard,” Tisdale said. “And now I have a little mental routine before games that I do before games that I didn’t do last year, and it helps me get in the zone.”
Coolidge emphasized the scale of the confidence boost that Tisdale received in the Ravens’ victory over McGill.
“When you go head-to-head against one of the top goaltenders in the world and [Tisdale] plays the way that she did, that’s got a give a person a little extra confidence,” Coolidge said. “We talk often about confidence and motivation coming from within, but when you get the compliments and accolades that helps too.”
Coolidge was also hinted that Tisdale’s career as an elite goaltender might extend beyond her tenure at Carleton.
“It made [Tisdale] realize that she’s got an incredible skill set,” Coolidge said, “and when she plays her game, she can make a difference, and maybe she should take a look at what other options there are for her in terms of a future in the goaltending world.”
