A Lampman hockey player will be taking her career to new heights this season.
Ashlyn Taillon, the starting goalie for the Estevan Chargers bantam A team last year, has secured a spot with the Melville Prairie Fire of the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League.
Taillon played in some exhibition games with the team and then found out she'd made it.
"I battled against another goalie to make the team and I found out Wednesday evening after our exhibition game," said the 15-year-old.
"It means everything to be able to have that experience and be able to play at this high level."
However, she was surprised to get the call after her performance in the pre-season games.
"I didn't think I was really going to make it, and (head coach Kevin Kirkwood) was like, 'We want you,' and I was shocked," Taillon said.
"The coach says I did the best in the goalie sessions and I was kinda shocked by that too. In my games, I didn't actually think I played that well in them. I let the most goals in of all the goalies, so I was like, 'I don't really have a chance.' But in the last game I thought I played really well."
Taillon said she will start out playing 30 per cent of the games backing up returning goalie Macey McDonald, but if she plays well, she can work her way up to a 50-50 split. That's her goal as a rookie.
Last year, Taillon backstopped the Chargers to first place in the South Saskatchewan Female Hockey League. She posted a record of 22-1-1, with a league-leading 1.42 goals-against average and a .750 save percentage.
In the playoffs, she had a 2.34 goals-against average and .813 save percentage.
She described herself as a butterfly goalie.
"I don't really move out of my net. I'm not a person to go play the puck."
She added a strong part of her game is that she doesn't get rattled.
"The mental part, I can brush things away pretty quick. If I let a goal in, I focus back up and I kinda forget about it and move on."
With female hockey growing in Estevan, including the addition of a midget AA team last year, Taillon said it's a testament to the local program that she's moving up to midget AAA.
"It's amazing that Estevan can help these girls to get to the higher level that they get to," she said.
