CZECH REPUBLIC – Before Canada beat the United States 3-0 Saturday to take gold at the IIHF World Women’s (Hockey) Championship, Exeter native Cayley Mercer held a vivid memory of how it felt to come up short.

Mercer was part of a Canadian team that stormed through last year’s world championship tournament but lost to the U.S. in its final game and brought home silver medals.

“Standing on that blueline, listening to the opponent’s national anthem, was honestly a feeling I can’t put into words,” Mercer told the Times-Advocate.
“This year we gave it everything we had and we came out on top, and it just felt unbelievable.”

Mercer was one of six returning players who helped Canada win gold this year, gathering two goals and six assists in five games.

Her best game statistically was a two-goal, one-assist performance in a 7-0 win over Sweden in the semifinal round.

Canada was nearly peerless in the tournament, handing in lopsided wins over Switzerland (13-1), Germany (6-0), Finland (7-0) and Sweden en route to its rematch with the U.S.

“We knew it was a possibility that we’d have to play the Americans in the final, but we never looked that far ahead,” Mercer said in a phone interview soon after Saturday’s gold medal game.

“We took every game as the game at hand, and we just tried to execute our process as best we could, and just focused on the moment.”

Canada has two gold medals in the five-year history of the U18 women’s tournament, and a member of the Mercer family has contributed to both: as previously reported, Mercer’s older sister Carly won gold in 2010.

Mercer said she couldn’t thank Carly enough for the support and advice she gave leading up to Saturday’s game.

“She told me to play with my heart and the desire that I have for the game, and that my passion on the ice would come through and it would help us win,” Mercer said.
“Having her there to help me through this whole process has been unbelievable, and I can’t thank her enough.”

Mercer improved on her two-goal, three-assist tally at last year’s world championship, and she said she was happy with her performance this year.
“I thought that I brought a lot of intensity to the team, but also I can’t thank my teammates enough,” she said.

“They were a great complement to my game, which was a lot of help and a lot of fun to play with.”

Mercer will soon return to her club team, the Bluewater Jr. Hawks, and is set to graduate from South Huron District High School this summer.

She plans to attend Clarkson University on a full hockey scholarship next year, playing alongside Carly.

At press time, Carly – a sophomore – was Clarkson’s second-leading scorer with eight goals and 14 assists in 22 games.

“I can’t wait to take the next step in my hockey career, and it just makes it all the better that I get to do it with my sister by my side,” Mercer said.

Mercer is the daughter of Becky and Brian Mercer of Exeter and has one other sibling – brother Cullen.