Women's hockey gets strong start

The Norwich women's ice hockey team has a rejuvenated roster and one goal in mind: To win a national title.

Julie Fortier, 22, a junior majoring in sports medicine from St-Malachie, Quebec, said, "We have a lot of big games coming up; against Amherst, Plattsburg, Trinity, Manhatanville. We need to be well prepared for these games. Our goal is to go all the way to the national championship and win it all. Facing those teams will be a big test for our club."

The team has an overall record of 4-1, 4-0 in its conference.

With the arrival of so many new recruits, Coach Mark Bolding was faced with some difficult decisions in order to solidify a final roster. This process involved replacing upperclassmen who were key contributors to the success of the team.

Players say they stand behind their coach.

"I trust the decisions the coaches have made. They have only made decisions to better our program but now it's up to us to create the same team chemistry we had last year," said Amanda Wilks, 20, a junior from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, majoring in athletic training.

 "The cuts made this year will make our team more skilled, but that's just one aspect of a hockey team, or any team. We will really succeed when we get to know the rookies better and come together as group, because that's what made us a competitive team last year," saidKelsey Cone, 21, a senior from Manchester, Vt., majoring in biology.

This year's roster returns its fair share of veteran leadership. Senior Kelsey Cone and junior Amanda Wilkes acknowledge that players have certain tendencies and pre-game rituals.

Preparation is very important when it comes to competing in a big game. Some of the Cadets were hesitant when asked to describe their pregame rituals but others some offered to share.

 "Don't let the blade of my stick touch the ground, pants on after skates. ... Some of the upperclassmen have a specific line up for going onto the ice and when we're lined up on the goal line," Wilks said.

Cone said she likes to "listen to my iPod while I tape my stick, and skip down every hallway of the rink."

The first weekend home at Kreitzberg Arena saw the Lady Cadets open their 2010-2011 campaign against a very skilled team, the RIT Tigers. With so many new faces in the lineup, the Cadets were unable to defeat the veteran RIT lineup.

 "I think that we were happy with the results if we take in consideration that we had seven freshmen in the line-up and it was their first college game, but personally, I think we have a lot of work to do and that if we want to be national champions we should be able to beat RIT," Fortier said.

"No we weren't satisfied. We wouldn't be much of a hockey team if we were fine with splitting the weekend. It is good to get the kinks out and let the freshmen adjust to college play." Cone said.

The following night the Cadets responded with a big win against national power Elmira College, and have won their other matches so far this season.

"I think our hockey level has improved a lot since the beginning of the program and makes it a lot more interesting to watch. Hopefully the games against big teams will encourage people to come watch us," Fortier said.

"I know we had the biggest crowd of Division III women's hockey last year," said Wilks, "and I'm only hoping that it will increase this year."

The team is full of young, but talented, new faces.

"Kayla Parsons was supposed to go Division 1 but in a last minute decision, she decided to come to Norwich. She's a great player and an all-around good kid," said Wilks.

"Of the freshman, I expect ‘MP' to make the biggest impact on our team. Not only is she an incredible defenseman, but she also leads by example on and off the ice. She gets it done," Cone said.