A new tradition began for the Norwich women’s hockey team when it hosted its first annual East/West Hockey Classic tournament.
This was a tough start for the girls, but nevertheless a very good start, according to Norwich’s head women’s hockey coach.
“It’s absolutely going to be a good start. I mean it doesn’t get any tougher,” said Head Coach Mark Bolding. “R.I.T. (Rochester Institute of Technology) is one of the best teams in the country, so it’s a huge test for us.”
Three very strong teams signed up to play in the East/West Hockey Classic, making these games some of the most difficult the Cadets will be facing.
“It makes the stakes a little bit higher. We have good teams coming in; R.I.T. and Elmira who are very consistent and top 10 national ranked teams,” Bolding said. “It does go against the curve and the norm but it ramps up the competition for us early.”
The Cadets lost their opener last weekend against R.I.T. 3-1, but defeated Elmira in their second match on Saturday, 3-1.
Tournaments generally are hosted later on in the season, mainly because organizing a date that works and fits into all the participants’ schedules can be difficult.
“All teams are looking for early season contests,” said Tony Mariano, athletic director at Norwich University. “So if you go out early enough to teams who haven’t done the majority of their scheduling, you can secure teams for tournaments games.”
Tournaments give teams a chance to play schools that are outside their conference/league and give them a chance to play fresh talent.
“We’ve never faced R.I.T. before, so we are pretty excited to face a new team and new talent,” Melissa Rundlett, 21, a junior physical education major from Saco, Maine, said before the match. “New England we see every year. We actually faced them in the championship for ECAC (Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference).”
This year Norwich has decided to treat this tournament like a round robin. This means that each team plays each other once; there is no bracket play or “winner” of the tournament.
“If there are three teams they will all just play each other,” Mariano said. “Another format that schools have followed is, ‘I already know who I’m going to play. I am going to play this team the first night and this team the second night’.”
The players and coaches were very excited for their first tournament and hope to keep the tradition going for years to come.
“We definitely want to continue because then we can invite different teams back,” Rundlett said, “and see more talent and see different teams that we don’t usually see during the year.”
The Cadets were also looking at the tournament as an opportunity to see the team’s strengths and weaknesses.
“It will help us see where we are and how as a team we are and where we need to develop,” Rundlett said. “It will also help us see where we need to come together as a team.”
After a devastating loss to Amherst College in the national championship game, the Cadets are looking to take the national title this year.
“We advanced pretty far last year and we want to try and make that next step,” Bolding said.
The women’s hockey team is very young this year. NU has brought nine new freshmen to the team. The team is confident in its abilities.
“We are kind of expecting big things from (the freshmen) but not so big that there is so much weight on their shoulders,” Rundlett said. “I think we are actually expecting more from the upperclassmen.”
The head coach has high hopes for the freshmen as well.
“I think they are going to be nervous and we are nervous to see them play,” Bolding said. “But on the other hand they are excited and ready for the challenge to play at this next level.”