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November 15, 2005
Womens hockey young and motivated to succeed
Winter is once again casting its five o’clock shadow on us, and that can only mean one thing: womens hockey season is upon us.
Hoping to improve on last year’s success, this Piper team is excited to hit the ice. A program that has historically struggled, womens hockey is set on making strides on last year’s improvement. To do so, however, they must rely on a youthful troupe of talented athletes.
“Twenty of twenty-two [players] are first-years or sophomores We are very young. But you can either use that as an excuse or you can use that as a motivator,” said head coach Garnet Asmundson. The feeling here is that Hamline will use youth as a motivator.
Senior goaltender Rachael Young should provide a source of leadership for the team. The Buffalo, native
was selected to the All-MIAC first team last season. Offense does have some question marks, though, most notably being the vacancy left by Emily Gross’s graduation. Gross is second all-time in Piper scoring.
Asmundson said the focus will be to continue improving defensively as well as to create more scoring opportunities.
“Defensively we will improve. We have made huge strides from my first year to my second year,”
Asmundson said. “It is all about reducing our opponents scoring chances and increasing our own. If we do that we should be in every game.”
Being in the comepitive MIAC, the Pipers have their work cut out for them. However, this season starts with a fresher attitude. Gone are the days when the feeling was “how can we not get completely obliterated”.
This attitude is not one of hubris. Rather it is simply the beginnings of a program moving in the right direction. Youth might seem to be a concern going into the season, but at the end of the day it comes down to practice, tactic, and stepping up on game-night.
Asmundson had this to add: “When the puck drops you’re there to play. Most of these kids have played for seven to ten to twelve players. The game is still the game. It comes down to what our skill level is compared to our opponents the rejuvenation in the program and the players that are excited about hockey will definitely be a positive for us.”
Posted by msveum at November 15, 2005 12:13 PM
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