Women’s Hockey Looks to Make Noise in the ECAC

Last season, the Women’s hockey team, led by Head Coach Ashley Kilstein, were able to capture the seventh seed in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East Division post-season tournament. Despite capturing the highest seed that this team has had in the short history of the program, Salve Regina was able to defeat the Panthers in the first round. 

This year, despite being picked to finish 10^th in the ECAC, the culture is different, and expectations are high.

“We have a whole new team, and a whole new culture, and we are pushing for a better spot this year,” said senior Captain Courtney Sollows (West Barnstable, MA).

There are only 13 players who were on last year’s team that are coming back to play for the Panthers this season, as 11 players were lost due to graduation. Having only approximately half of your team back allows for a new identity to be formed for PSU, and they want to develop a winning culture, as Sollows mentioned.

“I’ve seen them evolve so much,” Coach Kilstein said. “I’ve seen them crush through glass ceilings. They achieve a goal, and they are like ‘Alright, what’s next!’” Kilstein said about her returning players. With this being Kilstein’s fourth year as the Head Coach of the Women’s hockey team, all of the players on her team are ones that she recruited to come to Plymouth State University. That may not sound like a big deal, but being able to choose what players you want to play for you allows everyone to buy into the system that a coach is presenting.

Upon attending a practice a few weeks ago, it became obvious relatively quickly that everyone was buying into Kilstein’s philosophies, and were able to mesh extremely well. Passes were on target, players were communicating well with each other and moving around to where they needed to be on a given set play.

Something that means a lot to the development of the program was Kilstein’s ability to host the first ever PSU Tournament last weekend. In-conference rival, Nichols State, came up to PSU for the tournament, but so did Stevenson University (from Maryland), as well as Buffalo State.

“Hosting a tournament is a big deal,” Alternate Captain, Kelsey Cosby (Walpole, MA), said. Kilstein agrees, saying, “We admit confidence, because we bring you to our house.”

For the PSU Tournament, Plymouth ended up with a loss as well as a tie, but played much better than the score indicated, especially with the loss. PSU was down 3-0 upon the completion of the second period in both games, but they were able to score three goals to tie Buffalo State, and fell to Stevenson 3-2.  

In years past, this team would have lain down to play another day, but coming back in these games shows how much this team has grown mentally.

So what players will be looked at to step up this year, and prove to the ECAC East Division that they are a team to be reckoned with?

Forwards

Key Returners- Kate Banys, Marisa Zamrock, Kelsey Lynch, Frederike Lalonde, Kelsey Cosby, Olivia Leon, Emily Auby

Who’s new- Alivia Bates, Jaime Carpenter, Taylor Shrode

Returning for the Panthers are a number of their top scorers from last season, including Cosby, Kelsey Lynch (Collegeville, PA) and Kate Banys (Newburyport, MA), who were all named as an Alternate Captains this season. Banys has started off the season strong, as she already has three goals this season, while Cosby has a goal and Lynch has a goal and five assists combined through two games. Last season’s top scorer, Marisa Zamrock (Lewiston, ME) comes back this season hoping to exceed her marks of five goals and assists last season. Zamrock, who broke her collarbone during a game back in January, will look to show that she can still be a force on the offensive side of the ice.

For the newcomers, Alivia Bates (Pennsauken, N.J.) has yet to play a game yet due to being on the field hockey team, but brings a certain emotion and passion to the game that should allow her to fit in extremely well.  Carpenter (Jardenville, New Brunswick) found the back of the net in her first collegiate game against Buffalo, while Shrode (Craig, CO) “Will be a great asset for us,” Cosby said. Overall, this group looks improved, and Kilstein might have said it best when she said that, “They are moving the puck really well.” With having a number of players who pose a legitimate threat with the puck, it will be tough for opponents to be able to zone in on one specific player.

Defense

Key Returners- Courtney Sollows, Haley Branovan, Sara Huff, Gracie Shewell

Who’s New- Courtney Evans, Carolyn Simonis

This is an extremely young unit, as Sollows is the only defensive player that isn’t either a sophomore or a first-year. Sollows was quick to point out that Courtney Evans (Fairbanks, AK) “Is an awesome defenseman, that has confidence in her play. She has really stepped up,” said Sollows. Haley Branovan (Wexford, PA) and Gracie Shewell (Hanover, MD) come into their sophomore years having played in 22 of 26 games last season, so they will use their experience to their benefit for the 2014-2015 season. Sara Huff (Frisco, TX) played in the first two games this season, and will see an increase in playing time this season, as she is a sophomore as well. Like Evans, Carolyn Simonis (Victoria, British Columbia) comes into her freshman year with the ability to get a lot of playing time, and also played in the first two games of the season. Having Sollows able to mentor the younger players on defense should allow for improvement as the year progresses.

Goalie

Who’s New- Alyssa Altschuler, Erika Laurence, Mariah Trupp

The biggest loss to graduation last season was Goalie, Ali Ponte, bar none. Ponte had a .912 save percentage last season, and that was coming off of a .914 save percentage in 2012-2013. These are the “new” Panthers, though, and they aren’t living in the past. Altschuler (Cheshire, CT) brings college hockey experience with her, as she transferred over from SUNY Canton. Despite not playing a lot of her sophomore season at Canton, Altschuler was able to capture seven wins to go along with a .876 save percentage her freshman year. In her first two games as a Panther, Mariah Trupp (Topeka, KS) stopped 37 and 27 shots, respectively, and has a .914 save percentage to start off the season. Last season, Erika Laurence (Vancouver, British Columbia) had seven wins in ten starts, three of which were shut-outs, on the team that she played on last season. All three goalies have proven themselves, and it looks to be a great competition for the duration of the year.

What to Expect this Season

“We are well-rounded, for once,” Coach Kilstein said. A statement both Sollows and Cosby agreed with. This team is focused on the task ahead of them, and look to make noise this season.

“Playing every game to win, as well as hard work,” was what Sollows said her expectations of this season include. “Hard work is what got us to this point, and now we have talent to mix, so it will be a really exciting thing to see,” said Sollows.

The seniors of this team are looking to make sure that their mark will be left on the both the team, as well as the ECAC this season. Having the talent around to compliment the hard work that has gone into the off-season will allow the Panthers to achieve their most successful season this year.  

Look for this team to capture the home playoff game that they desire, and to improve themselves from the pre-season 10^th spot that they were given.