Victoire’s Greig showing signs of growth, and no signs of sophomore slump

VANCOUVER – Dara Greig is showing growth in her game.

Greig scored her first Professional Women’s Hockey League goal early in the second period and collected an assist as the Montreal Victoire defeated the Vancouver Goldeneyes 4-2 Saturday afternoon at the Pacific Coliseum.

“It feels good,” said Greig, who had three assists in 29 games with Montreal last year in her rookie season. “I think I’ve taken a step in the off-season. I wanted to be able to contribute a bit more offensively this year.

“It was nice to get one.”

Greig’s goal came off a turnover just 108 seconds into the second period.

Hayley Scamurra stopped an attempted clearing pass at the Vancouver blue line.

“She shot it at me and hit me in the pants or something,” laughed Greig, who turns 25 on Dec. 30th. “I was just trying to find it.

“I saw the defenceman go down for a screen, so I tried to shoot it the opposite direction of that, and it went in.”

Greig also earned her first assist of the season midway through the third period when Shiann Darkangelo made it 4-2 Montreal.

Marie-Philip Poulin and Natalie Mlynkova, on a pretty breakaway, also scored for Montreal (4-1-0-0) which moved into sole possession of second place in the PWHL with 11 points.

Sophie Jaques and Michela Cava scored for Vancouver (3-4-0-0) which had entered the game tied for second with Montreal. A Pacific Coliseum crowd of 12,127 watched the Goldeneyes suffer their first home-ice loss.

Montreal goalie Sandra Abstreiter, making her first start of the season, made 28 saves.

Vancouver goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer stopped 24 shots.

Born in Camden, N.J., Greig had 62 goals and 70 assists playing 174 games during her collegiate career split between Wisconsin and Colgate. She helped the University of Wisconsin Badgers win an NCAA National Championship in 2021.

Victoire head coach Kori Cheverie said Montreal liked Greig’s scoring touch and physical play when she was drafted in the fourth round, 23rd overall, in 2024.

“We knew what she could bring to our team,” said Cheverie. “We knew she had the ability to be physical, which you saw tonight. She has that scoring touch.

“Her puck touches out of our zone into their zone, were just so crucial.”

Besides her goal and assist, Greig logged 15:24 of ice time and had five hits, second most on the team.

Poulin likes the edge Greig brings to her game.

“She’s been the first one on the team to do these like bumps, and that makes a huge difference,” she said. “To see her grow from last year. She came ready and it showed from the start of the season.”

Cheverie said Greig’s game has evolved so she can be used in any situation.

“We’re using her in a lot of different scenarios,” said Cheverie. “Five-on-five, the penalty kill, the last five minutes of the game, five on six situations. She can get the puck out of our zone and put the puck into safe places.

“I think this game specifically is a big step for her.”

Greig’s younger brother Ridly is a centre with the NHL Ottawa Senators.

“We’re pretty close,” said Greig. “I’m lucky to have him in my support system. “We text and FaceTime when we can. I’m looking forward to going to Ottawa for Christmas and spending a little bit of time with him.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 20, 2025.