Women's hockey keeps rolling

The Norwich women's hockey team has been on a steady road to success from day one, after finishing fourth in the Eastern College Atlantic Conference (ECAC) three years ago.

After winning the ECAC East tournament and advancing to the team's first appearance in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship during the 2008-09 season, the Cadets were determined to work even harder during the 2009-10 season.

"The season has gone well, but we have given up some games that we could have won," said Suzanne Whitaker, 20, a sophomore communications major from Chelmsford, Mass. "We're working towards getting better every day and preparing for the ECACs."

The team agrees that the hard practices, long bus rides and hard-fought battles during the season are the sacrifices it takes to be the best. With every game on the line, it all comes down to who wants it the most.

With the Cadets first win against Castleton State College in the quarterfinals of the ECAC tournament, followed up with another win in the semifinals against UMass-Boston, they are one step closer to what they all have hoped for - winning the ECACs and getting back to the NCAAs.

"We don't feel inferior to any of the teams in our conference," said Kelsey Cone, 21, a junior biology major from Manchester, Vt. "It's all about who shows up to play and who capitalizes on the other team's mistakes." 

The women's team must stay focused in order to win the ECAC and move on to the NCAA. 

"It's easy to put in the extra effort preparing for this tournament.  It's what we've been working for all season," Cone said.

"Manhattanville is the number one seed, so they are going to be our toughest opponent," Whitaker said. "But other teams like UMass-Boston and Salve Regina have given us a tough time in the past and we can't overlook them."

The driving force of last year's success is what kept the team going, according to Ashley Cassan, 21, a junior biology major from Winnipeg, MB, Canada. "We knew we had to work harder to be even better this time around," she said.

The Cadets will have to step up their defensive game if they want to get back to the NCAA's.

"It's something we have struggled with all season," said Caitie Banfield, 20, a sophomore communications major from Montpelier, Vt. "The way a team plays in their defensive zone kind of sets the tone for how the team will play all over the ice."

According to Whitaker, the team has been focusing on their defensive zone play and penalty kills a lot during practices. "The teams we will be facing will know how to score on the power play and we need to be prepared for that," she said.

"We have a great team this year, a lot of depth, awesome forwards, and great goaltending," said Emily Goff, 21, a junior communications major from Boston, Mass.

Although they've been outshooting most teams, Goff says, "We have to work on putting more pucks in the net."

"Sometimes we outshoot teams by 20 or 30 shots, but only put two goals in," Banfield said. This year, when they outshot their opponents 983 to 528 and only outscored teams 98 to 54, "is really frustrating for us as a team," she said.

The new style of fore-check this year will help the Cadets as they continue in playoffs. "It's been helping us keep closer games with the tougher teams, we just have to stay disciplined and get some more goals," Cassan said.

The Cadets have been working a lot with a left wing lock fore-check, which is where one forward sits back and plays as another defensemen. This style of play has been successful for the team, according to Whitaker.

"We have a talented team; we just have to stay more consistent. If everyone shows up to play each game ahead, we play the system and are better defensively, we should do really well," said Goff.

"It's important that we focus  on one game at time," Cone said. "It's easy to look ahead to later games, but that's what gets teams in trouble."

With only one game standing in the way of the Cadets chance of playing in the NCAA's, the team hopes its hard work during the season will pay off for them.

The team is motivated and determined to end the season strong and, "Prove that last year wasn't a mistake that we won," Whitaker said.