Bell perseveres with Midland University

Taylor Bell will tell you if you stay in it long enough, the hard times will eventually give something back.

The 21-year-old Brandonite who’s now known as the hero who delivered a national championship to Fremont, Neb., for the Midland University Warriors for the first time in program history a few months ago, didn’t have it quite so easy back in her early days with the team.

“My freshman year, obviously it wasn’t a great year for me,” Bell recalled. “Things were tough. It was just a big change and a big adjustment.”

Bell committed to the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s women’s Division 1 Midland squad for the 2022-23 season, majoring in exercise science after spending three years with the Central Plains Capitals out of the Manitoba U18 AAA Female Hockey League. She had reached out to a few different schools, but head coach Jason White was the first one to get back to her and express mutual interest.

Bell also already had some ties to the team knowing Keagan Shearer and Rylee Martin — both a year older — whom she’s known and competed against since childhood, as well as her best friend Brynn Tosh, her Capitals teammate from Souris who she ended up dorming with in their first year.

Everything seemed to be going swimmingly, that is, until Bell familiarized herself with the ACHA rulebook.

“You can’t play in the ACHA until you turn 18,” Bell scoffed.

Her later birthday on Oct. 15 meant she would sit out for games the first six weeks of the season. She was doing just about everything with the team but suit up when it mattered most, and as a youngster finding her way with a new team, it was far from easy.

“That was definitely a hard learning curve and adjustment too,” she said. “Practising and travelling and working out with the team and not being able to play, it definitely just puts you a step back, especially where there is already the big jump from AAA to ACHA.

“You’re already behind because it’s hard to make your way up in the lineup and it’s tough because you just can’t play and obviously that’s the best part of hockey, is playing because everyone wants to play.”

Bell missed home too and without her escape on the ice, the feelings were amplified. She admitted her roommate Tosh was a huge reason she was able to stick with it and not give up.

But then came her 18th birthday, a day that made the wait all worth, and one Bell will never forget.

“I still remember this and it was such a nice feeling,” she said. “We were in Michigan and we had a four-game weekend, I couldn’t play the first two games, but I could play the last two, so I stayed up ‘til like two in the morning because ACHA is in Colorado mountain time, so I had to wait for their time to sign my player agreement. Whitey (White) was texting me and it was crazy and I was also away from home for my first birthday, so all the girls were so great about it. Everyone was excited for me and it just felt so good.

“It was a big weight off my shoulders, finally being able to play and you’re not just helping the team otherwise in the locker room, I was actually helping on the bench and on the ice and it was just awesome.”

Bell ended up collecting just two goals and three points through 26 games with the Warriors in her first season. While it was a down year by her standards in the offensive department — she reeled in 30 points in her senior campaign with Central Plains — she couldn’t have learned more off the ice.

Under captain Kamryn Hayhurst and alternates Shearer and Martin, Bell said she picked up valuable leadership skills, such as what traits define a well-respected leader. She soaked everything up like a sponge, especially in her non-playing days early in the year when all she could do was watch.

“Obviously I didn’t play as much, so I just worked hard and I idolized my captains,” said Bell. “I just watched and observed and I wanted to be just like them. They were great role models, they set the tone, they worked so hard, they had respect from everybody and just fun.

“It was very rare that she (Hayhurst) would have to be stern, but when things needed to be serious, everybody would listen to her and when she’s serious, everyone else was serious. She had fun but then when it was time to get down to business and be serious, everyone listened. That’s just kind of who, if I ever got the chance, I wanted to be just like them and carry the team like they did and whatnot.”

Bell was given that chance this season as co-captain alongside Tosh after progressing on and off the ice in years two and three, where she racked up two goals and 11 points before breaking out with seven goals and 29 points.

She had the C on her chest and was also given loads of opportunity on the penalty kill and power play, which helped her to career highs in goals (16), points (36) and games played (35) in a year where Midland had 12 other Manitobans on the roster, including her younger sister, Jordan, who entered the fold as a freshman.

The Warriors rode into the post-season trailing only Liberty University in the Midwest Division thanks to a 27-4-1-3 record. They blanked the University of Massachusetts-Amherst 3-0 and then did the same to Adrian College 1-0 in overtime during their pool play at nationals in Maryland Heights, Mo., which marked more than five consecutive seasons they’ve advanced to the final four.

Bell and Midland had dropped the last three semifinals appearances with losses to Liberty (5-2) last year, Adrian College (5-3) the year before and Minot State (1-0) in 2023, but it finally got over the hump with a 4-3 victory after Kiara McGregor buried the overtime winner against Maryville University to hand her club a berth into the final.

Liberty defeated the University of Michigan-Dearborn 5-0 on the other side to set up a rematch with a squad that’d been about as dominant as anyone could be, capturing six of the past eight championships for a total of seven in their team’s history.

The Warriors carried a two-goal lead early into the third period but the Flames responded back, rattling off two markers in a six-minute span to tie the game at threes and set up a dramatic overtime thriller.

“It was definitely one of the most intense games we played,” Bell recalled. “We were absolutely gassed, we had gone to overtime every other game and were running three lines and five D, so it was so tiring.”

High-powered tension slowly turned into fatigue once the contest hit triple overtime and everyone started wondering if the game was ever going to end. With less than three minutes on the clock it looked like a fourth extra time was on the horizon until Bell had other plans.

The five-foot-three, left-shot forward took a puck off the wall on the opponent’s blue- line and darted toward the net, ripping a shot that was stopped by goaltender Alexandra Keith, before then getting ahold of the rebound and burying it far side to complete a storybook ending.

“That was definitely the biggest goal of my life, it just doesn’t get any better than that,” said Bell. “It was like a little bit of like, ‘Oh my God, the game’s over’ and ‘Oh my God, I just scored and we just won.’ I was just in complete shock and I couldn’t have been happier, I was just so excited.

“We’ve been working for this for four years and I know Whitey’s been here for like eight or nine years and this has been his goal since day one and he radiates that every day. Every practice, every pre-season and post-season workout, he talks about it and I’m so happy that he finally got it and I was on the team that helped him get his national championship.”

Bell has become a part of Midland history and her sister was along for the ride too. She said she couldn’t be more grateful to share those memories with her.

“It was so great to actually win it with her,” Bell added. “It was such a great feeling because we’ve always been one year too far apart to play hockey with each other and last year when she committed, I was so excited. I was very pumped that I could be here for her freshman year and guide her through it and help her out.

“I push her but she definitely pushes me too and I do look up to her as well, so it’s been cool playing together.”

Midland had never managed to pull out a championship title, yet the team to do it since its inception more than 10 years ago consists of practically and all-Canadian roster as 25 of the 27 players come from north of the border, 13 from Manitoba, nine from Ontario, two from Alberta and one from B.C.

Bell said she’s proud of the talent her province has been able to produce.

“It’s just great to see. It’s crazy when you think about it, having so much people from back home, like I played against a lot of these girls and now I’m 10 hours away from home and I’m playing with them. It’s just super cool.”

And there’s still a chance Bell returns to run it back with another heavily Manitoban roster, as she’s eligible for a fifth season. She did apply to ultrasound school back in Winnipeg, though, so if she gets in, the Warriors will have some big shoes to fill.

» mdelucataronno@brandonsun.com