A product of hockey development in Burnaby will represent B.C. on the national stage once more in hopes of winning another prestigious piece of hardware.
Former Burnaby minor hockey goaltender Clara Juca has been selected to Team BC for the 2023 national women's under-18 championships in Dawson Creek next month.
She'll be one of two netminders looking to win B.C.'s first-ever gold at the tournament since its inception in 2001.
This will also be the first national women's U18 event since 2019 after it was cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, and bumped to fall 2023 as a result of preparations for the Canada Winter Games this year.
Juca also hopes to use her experience as a national gold and silver medalist to accomplish something that;'s never been done before: beat Ontario.
The province has won every single Canadian women's U18 event. B.C. holds three bronze medals to its name since 2005.
And her résumé will speak for itself when she claims her cage, including back-to-back B.C. championships and Pacific regional titles with the Fraser Valley Rush female under-18 AAA squad.
Juca helped the Rush reach the Esso Cup final in 2022 and 2023, settling for silver on both occasions.
The New Westminster-born goalie is also very familiar with wearing B.C.'s blue and white, winning the province's first-ever Canada Winter Games gold on Prince Edward Island in March.
Juca played 26 games over two years with the Rush, tallying a combined record of 25-1 that included eight shutouts.
She started in six games over the last two Esso Cup national championships with a 3.31 goals-against average and a .889 save percentage.
In the 2021-22 campaign, she was named to BC Hockey's female under-18 AAA all-star team.
Prior to moving up the ranks, Juca grew up playing for the Burnaby minor hockey teams. She was named top bantam-level goaltender as a member of the Wildcats at the 2019 Pat Quinn Classic.
The now 17-year-old is committed to the Etobicoke Jr. Dolphins of the Ontario Women's Hockey Association this fall, but will soon head back to B.C. for the camps.
Juca was one of 20 players named to B.C.'s roster for the national women's under-18 championships last Monday, Sept. 25.
The event, which pins Canadian provinces and regions against each other, is slated for Nov. 5 to 11 at the Ovintiv Events Centre in Dawson Creek.
