Sojung Shin @sojungshin31 - 

1. Sojung is a former Korean goaltender from Seoul. She began playing hockey at the young age of 7 and by 9 was training with the Korean national team. Growing up she dreamt of representing her country at the Olympics, and at 14, she made her debut for the Korean national team. 

2. Sojung played in various Asian Winter Games and represented Korea in the @iihfhockey Women's World Championship, where they struggled against their competition. This was largely due to the team’s challenges in acquiring quality ice time, gear, training facilities, and overall resources in comparison to other sports in Korea since hockey was not a priority and there were few young players. 

3. From 2013-16, she played for @stfxuniversity, where she registered 37 wins, complemented by a 1.46 goals against average, and a save percentage of .944. She graduated with a degree in Human Kinetics. 

4. On July 27, 2016, Sojung signed with the NWHL’s @newyorkriveters, where she played 4 games and recorded a shutout. 

5. In 2018, her dreams came true when she was tapped to tend the net for Korea in the Olympics. Although Korea lost all 5 games, Sojung starred by facing 236 shots (an average of 47.96 shots per game). When asked about the experience, Sojung stated, “It was fantastic. I [will] never forget [these] moments in my life. Also when I was exhausted during the game, I couldn’t give up and could overcame my fatigue by [the] cheering from crowds.” Although she had already decided to retire before the Olympics, she was convinced to continue playing through the Spring of 2019, where she represented Korea in the Division B Women’s World Championships and won a Silver medal. Following the tournament, Sojung retired from hockey at 28.

Sojung has since returned to Canada to help coach St. Francis, and she is the legal guardian for two young Korean female athletes in North America, as Sojung herself was raised by a single mother after her father passed when she was a teenager. Sojung will forever be remembered as a pioneer for Korean female players, and her fulfillment of her Olympic dreams is straight out of a storybook!