Tara Leigh-Anne Watchorn (born May 30, 1990) is a Canadian women's ice hockey player who has competed for the Canadian national women's ice hockey team. She made her debut for Team Canada in the

2010 Four Nations Cup The 2010 4 Nations Cup was an international women's ice hockey competition held in Clarenville, Newfoundland and Labrador and St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador from November 9 to November 13, 2010. Games were played at the Clarenville Event ...

and played for Canada most recently at the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

. She chose to withdraw from playing in the 2018 Olympics, however a future comeback is still possible. Watchorn was born in

Ajax, Ontario Ajax (; 2021 Canadian census, 2021 population: 126,666) is a town in Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham Region in Southern Ontario, Canada, located in the eastern part of the Greater Toronto Area. The town is named for , a Royal Navy cruiser ...

, but grew up in Newcastle, Ontario.

Playing career

Watchorn competed for the Durham West Jr. Lightning in Ontario. She won silver in the PWHL tournament in her junior year and bronze as a sophomore. She represented Team Ontario in the National Under 18 tournament and won a championship. She was picked as the High School Athlete of the Year as a freshman at St. Stephens secondary school in Bowmanville. Watchorn earned MVP honors for basketball, volleyball, soccer and hockey.

NCAA

In her freshman season (2008–09) with Boston University, Watchorn played in every game. Her six goals led all defenders on the Terriers roster. On October 23, she earned her first career goal in a 3–2 win against New Hampshire. Two days later, she registered three assists in an 8–1 win against Maine. She was twice Named Hockey East Rookie of the Week. During the 2009–10 season, Watchorn competed in 31 contests. Her fourteen assists were good enough for third overall among defenders in Hockey East. She was a member of the Hockey East All-Star Team that played the U.S. Women's National Team on Nov. 22. On November 14, she accumulated three assists in 5–3 win over Providence. An injury prevented her participation in the MLP Cup. The highlight of the season was getting the championship-winning goal against Connecticut in the Hockey East title game Watchorn participated in the NCAA tournament for the first time. Against Mercyhurst in the NCAA quarterfinals (on March 13, 2010), she scored the Terriers lone goal. In her junior season (2010–11), she registered a shorthanded goal and an assist against Union on Oct. 9. Six days later, she had a goal and an assist against Wayne State.

Hockey Canada

In a January 9, 2008 contest versus Germany (contested at the inaugural World Women's Under-18 hockey championship), Watchorn logged two goals (plus one assist) in a 10–1 win. Watchorn competed with the Canadian Under 22 team in the January 2010 MLP Cup. She won gold and tallied an assist in the tournament. She was part of the Canadian National Under 22 team that competed in the

2011 MLP Cup The 2011 MLP Nations Cup was a women's ice hockey tournament that featured five countries' national teams in addition to Canada, who played with their national under-22 team. Canada has defended the title which they won in 2010. All games were con ...

. She played for Canada at the

, scoring one goal in five games.

CWHL

Originally drafted by Team Alberta, she signed with the Boston Blades as a free agent in autumn 2014. She would contribute to the Blades winning the

2015 Clarkson Cup The 2015 Clarkson Cup was a women's ice hockey tournament that was contested in Markham, Ontario to determine the champion of the Canadian Women's Hockey League from March 4 to March 7, 2014. The Boston Blades defeated the Montreal Stars by a 3-2 ta ...

. During the 2014–15 CWHL season, Watchorn led all blueliners in scoring, and was named the recipient of the CWHL Defenseman of the Year Award in 2015. In the autumn of 2015, she was named team captain of the Blades.

Career stats

NCAA

Hockey East play

Hockey Canada

CWHL

Awards and honours

NCAA

* 2009 Women's Division I New England Hockey Writers All-Star team * 2009 Women's Division I New England Hockey Writers All-Rookie team * 2010 Hockey East All-Tournament Team honors * 2010 All-Hockey East Second Team * 2010 Women's Division I New England All-Star * Hockey East Co-Player of the Week (Week of March 15, 2010) * Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week honors on March 8, 2010 * Hockey East Honor Roll (October 19, 2009) * Hockey East Honor Roll (November 16, 2009) * Hockey East Honor Roll (February 1, 2010) * Hockey East Honor Roll (October 11, 2010) * Hockey East 10th Anniversary Team selection, Honorable Mention

CWHL

*CWHL co-leader, Plus-Minus rating +25 (2014–15) *2015 CWHL Defenceman of the Year Award

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Watchorn, Tara 1990 births Boston Blades players Boston University Terriers women's ice hockey players Canadian women's ice hockey defencemen Clarkson Cup champions Ice hockey people from Ontario Ice hockey players at the 2014 Winter Olympics Living people Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Canada Olympic ice hockey players of Canada Olympic medalists in ice hockey People from Ajax, Ontario Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States