Bio

The Gutter RDP Athlete of the Week for November 13, 2023

Forward Avery Lajeunesse and the Queens Hockey team extended their impressive winning streak to eight games with victories over the SAIT Trojans and the Medicine Hat College Rattlers this past weekend. The Queens have not dropped a game in over a month with their last loss coming against the Lakeland College Rustlers on October 14.

On Friday night in Calgary, Lajeunesse scored the winning goal three minutes into the third period in their 2-0 victory over the Trojans. After picking up the puck on the blueline, she drove towards the net and fired a wrist shot past her former teammate, Madison Fox, to open up the scoring in the game.

In their 3-2 road win against the Medicine Hat College Rattlers, Lajeunesse finished the night with two points, one goal and an assist. She was able to break the deadlock in the third period to put her Queens up 2-1. On the game-winning goal, Lajeunesse set up forward Jailyn Bablitz to put RDP up 3-1 which was very key as the Rattlers stormed back to within one four minutes later on the powerplay. The line that Lajeunnesse centred finished with four points in the win and she was later named the player of the game.

The 4th year Bachelor of Education student-athlete is currently riding a five-game point streak where she has four goals and two assists. But since the Queens last loss, Lajeunesse has put up 10 of her 13 total points on the season.  She now sits in third place in the ACAC in points, goals and assists. The Queens will be in action this weekend at home as they will battle with the NAIT Ooks at 7 pm for the top spot in the conference.

Congratulations Avery and keep up the hard work on the ice!

RDP Athlete of the Week for October 23, 2023

Forward Avery Lajeunesse finished her week with four points against the SAIT Trojans to help the Queens to back-to-back victories.

On Friday night, Lajeunesse picked up the assist on the game's first goal as she saw her open teammate Jailyn Bablitz who made one move before beating the Trojans goaltender.

Lajeunesse would top this performance by scoring two goals and earning one assist in the rubber match against the Trojans on Saturday afternoon. The Red Deer native and her linemates put up a total of nine points in the game. The fourth-year student-athlete would help her team score first as she fired a shot on net that gave off a rebound right onto the stick of forward Julie Wagner.

Ten minutes into the second period, the Queens would continue to pepper the Trojans goal with Lajeunesse finding the back of the net on the powerplay. She would tack on one more goal in the early stages of the third period to help her team to a 4-0 victory over SAIT. Following the win, the Queens captain was named the player of the game.

On the season, Lajeunesse has seven points, two goals and five assists, in all six of the Queens games. She is fourth in points and assists in the ACAC.

The Queens will be heading down to Medicine Hat to take on the Rattlers in their inaugural series against one another as the college is in its first year of participating in ACAC Women’s Hockey.

Congratulations Avery and keep leading the Queens well like we know you can!

Mr. Mikes RDP Athlete of the Week for March 27, 2023

What a week it was for Avery Lajeunesse and the Queens Hockey team. Not only did Lajeunesse score the game-winning goal 45 seconds into overtime, but it also was the championship-clinching goal that helped the Queens to their second consecutive championship title.

It was a tight game from start to finish with the Queens opening the scoring in the first period with less than a minute to go but the Ooks would bounce back and tie it up at one in the second. The third period would go scoreless which meant the game was going to be decided in overtime. A win for the Ooks would keep their playoff hopes alive and send the series back to Red Deer for Game 4. But Lajeunesse secured the sweep and gold medal less than a minute into overtime, sending her team flying onto the ice and swarming the Red Deer native as they won back-to-back championships.

On a delay penalty call, Lajeunesse picked up the loose puck behind the net, wrapped it around and snuck it between the post and the pad of the Ooks goaltender for her second goal of the post-season. This was also her sixth point of the playoffs, placing her tied for the lead with her teammate Alli Soyko. The refs would need to deliberate as the whistle was blown but after a few minutes it was ruled a good goal and the Queens could continue to celebrate.

Congratulations Avery and the Queens on a job well done this past weekend.

RDC Athlete of the Week for Jan. 20, 2020

Avery Lajeunesse had a remarkable weekend on the ice for the Queens. The quick forward played a key role helping the RDC Queens earn three of a possible four points against the NAIT Ooks. Both teams entered the two game series tied for second place in the league, but after a 3-2 victory on Friday and a close 5-4 shootout setback, the Queens (10-4-2-0) jumped one point over the Ooks (10-5-1-0) in the standings. While Avery worked hard and played well on Friday, she really shone in Saturday’s rematch. The Open Studies student used her speed and scored a hat trick, leading both squads. Her first two goals came within 37 seconds of each other in the opening frame. The third marker was recorded late in the second period. For her dominant performance, Avery was named the Queens Player-of-the-Game. In 16 games, she has six goals and six assists which is impressive, especially for a first-year student-athlete in the ACAC.

Congratulations Avery!