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Sitting in silence waiting for her phone to ring, Jocelyn Fiala knew she wasn’t guaranteed a spot on Team Saskatchewan’s U18 squad. But she had come too far to give up hope.

After nearly a week of tryouts that pitted the best players from Saskatchewan against each other in a tournament-style bracket, 200 attendees were down to 80. Only 20 players would make the team’s final roster.

Regardless of how slim her chances seemed, Fiala’s confidence never wavered. She bet on herself, and the phone call she eventually received from Saskatchewan’s head coach proved she had made the right choice.

“She was elated,” Fiala’s father Eddie said. “You’re super fortunate to be picked out of the province to represent your team.”

With her hometown of Clavet only a short drive from downtown Saskatoon, Fiala began her career with the Saskatoon Stars of the Saskatchewan Female U18 AAA Hockey League. Fiala’s gritty defense put national scouts from across her province on notice, opening the door to compete against Canada’s best players with Team Saskatchewan. Now, she’s displaying her physical defense with Syracuse, while also contributing a career-high three points this season as a sophomore.

While she wasn’t forced into the sport, Fiala was always around hockey growing up. As the youngest of four children, Fiala was often dragged to her siblings’ practices and games at her local rink, Clavet Arena.

At 4 years old, it was finally Fiala’s turn to take the ice. Her father signed her up for Initiation, a learn-to-skate program run by the Clavet Minor Hockey Association for children looking to begin playing hockey.

“(At that time) she was out there just to have fun and skating came so easy to her she didn’t really have to work at it. Everything came quite naturally to her,” Eddie said.

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As her skating and stick skills began to form, Fiala earned a spot on the Clavet Cougars at the Peewee level. There was one caveat: she was the only girl on its roster.

It was a steep learning curve for Fiala to go from non-contact skills sessions to full-contact games against boys, some of whom were twice her size. But in the long run, the physicality she faced weekly allowed her to become a hard-hitting defender.

When Fiala transitioned to girl’s hockey by joining the Saskatoon Comets at 13, her time with the all-boys team made her transition seamless. Fiala made a name for herself with her physicality during her two-year stint with the Comets, a trait Syracuse head coach Britni Smith now counts on her to bring every game.

“She’s someone who can utilize her speed and has good size, so she can use her physical game,” Smith said. “Making teams really work harder on offense is something that we look to her for.”

Entering her freshman year of high school, Fiala had outgrown her first girl’s team. Ahead of the 2019-20 season, Fiala committed to the Saskatoon Stars Midget AAA travel team.

While Fiala was eager to meet her teammates and help capture a fifth league championship in six seasons, the COVID-19 pandemic derailed that opportunity. The Stars hit the ice for two ultimately meaningless contests across the 2019-21 seasons.

When they returned for the 2021-22 season, Fiala made an instant impact. In her inaugural campaign with the team, she led Saskatoon’s blueliners in both assists (10) and points (12), serving as a defensive bright spot amid a mediocre 12-14-2 season.

Ahead of her senior year in 2022-23, Fiala impressed Canadian scouts and NCAA coaches. With three goals and 23 assists, she finished second among all defenders and 13th overall in the Saskatchewan Female U18 AAA Hockey League in points.

While Fiala lists playing for Saskatoon as a highlight of her young career, the high-caliber team was just the first of many additions to her expansive resume.

In early 2022, she participated in Team Saskatchewan’s U18 tryouts. After an arduous week of on-ice sessions, Fiala had made the final cut. Months later, she was invited to the 2022 Hockey Canada U18 Selection Camp in Calgary, Alberta, along with 47 other players from across the country.

From Aug. 9-12, 2022, Fiala defended Canada’s best through a series of full-ice scrimmages, including current SU forward Haley Trudeau. However, she didn’t make the team.

“She took it pretty hard because it was the first time she didn’t make a team,” Eddie said. “It’s hard on your confidence and makes you think, ‘Geez, am I really that good?’”

After her rejection from Team Canada, Fiala fully invested herself in Team Saskatchewan’s run in the 2023 Women’s Canada Winter Games. Hosted on Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan struggled throughout the tournament. The group finished with a 1-4-0 record across its games from Feb. 27 to March 4, 2023. Still, Fiala cherished the opportunity.

“On or away from the rink, it was awesome to always be around people who share the same love for hockey as you do. It’s an honor to represent your province and a one-in-a-million opportunity,” Fiala said.

Since joining the Orange in 2023, Fiala has helped bring consistency after they lost over half their players between her freshman and sophomore seasons. After logging two assists last season, Fiala tallied her first career goal in Syracuse’s second game of 2024-25 in a 4-0 win over Stonehill. Her career-high three points are also tied for fourth-most among SU defenders.

In the latter half of the season, Syracuse will need Fiala to step up to maintain its spot in the Atlantic Hockey America playoffs. Because of her time with the Stars and Saskatchewan journey, Fiala possesses the experience necessary to rise to the occasion.

“We grew up in a community that embraced (Fiala) and had good coaching coming up, so she fell in love with the game,” Eddie said. “To this day she’ll still tell you, ‘Go check out Clavet Arena!’ Because it’s still home to her.”

Published on January 21, 2025 at 9:44 pm

Contact Matthew: mgray06@syr.edu