Women's hockey team finishes season 4-4

By Candace Bushey
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

With one second left in the game, the fans and the players watched as the puck slid into an unoccupied net. As the buzzer of the clock went off, the Women's Ice Hockey team cheered about their win and their four-game winning streak.

The goal left the Norwich Women's Ice Hockey team with a two to nothing score in their last game of the season. "The first period was one of our worst," said Kenny Goslant the women's Head Coach, "however, we held them at 0-0. We were frustrated, and running around like we didn't know how to play."

After the break between periods, the team started settling down; in "the second period we started using our knowledge and skill level," Goslant said. "Passing, shooting and positioning was excellent; we finally came together as a team."

The Norwich Women's Ice Hockey team played Skidmore College on February 24 and 25 in Saratoga Springs, NY, to end their official season. The overnight trip was the first the team had ever been on, and winning both games ended the women's year with a 500 record.

Having never traveled before and having "bus legs" before their first game of the weekend worried Goslant, who said, "for us to come off the bus and win is an unbelievable achievement as well as an amazing effort."

Lisa Sawin, 20, an architecture major from Andover, Mass., said, "Saturday's game was our best display of women's hockey this season. We finally found the glue that holds a team together, and we held Skidmore to a 1-0 win."

In addition to winning both of their games, the women have had, "three shutouts in a row," said Beth Carriere Hause, 23, a nursing major from Andover, Mass., and Norwich's goalie. "I've never had a shutout before, and getting three in a row has been unbelievable."

"Our defense is better than ever, keeping the puck out of our zone," Hause said, "our forward and wings are skating, puck handling, and shooting better. We had 42 shots on goal in one game, the most ever."

Although the team's abilities excelled, Goslant said the reason the team started winning was because, "the team started learning what the word 'team' meant, and we really started bonding as a whole group."

Sawin agreed and said, "we pulled together as a team for the first time and learned a lot about each other and what it takes for us to win. Things off the ice affect what goes on when we're on the ice. Fixing our differences as a team repaired our record."

"Coming together as a team and a lot of effort made it possible for us to win our last four games" said Goslant, "there is no way we were capable of winning 1-0, 2-0 games with only seconds left on the clock, in the beginning of the season."

"Four games ago, we finally got a taste of what it felt like to win, and once we finally got that taste, we started really digging down and respecting ourselves and believing in a total team effort," Goslant said. "That's what contributed to a four-game winning streak to end the season."

"In the beginning of the season the team moved in slow motion," said Heather Newcomb, 22, a senior communications major from Arrowsic, Me., "As we got more comfortable with each other's abilities and with the game, we improved a great deal."

The overnight trip was planned to provide the girls with some team bonding and some fun, said Sawin, "apparently it was successful, having won both Saturday and Sunday's game."

"It was an excellent closure to the season," Hause said, "it couldn't have been a better end, a weekend with two shut outs."

"The overnight trip was a great time and experience," Newcomb said, "it was something to remember. Back to back games, back to back wins. We have come far as a team and with the experience and skills we now have, the future looks bright for the girls who will be here next year," said Newcomb.

In the future, the women are hoping that the team will get varsity status. "It would be a great accomplishment for the program," said Sawin; however, she said she doesn't want the recruiting of better players to eliminate the opportunity for other women who just want to walk on.

"We have earned it and deserve it," Newcomb said, "we work hard and have proven that this team can play hockey. It is time for some recognition from the school and time we were given what we have worked so hard to earn."

Hause, who helped start the program, said, "the number one goal was for the team to go varsity. It will happen. Women's hockey is not going away, and neither are we."

"This is the most talent we have ever had on the team," Goslant said, "we have a lot of eager women that want to play hockey, and there is already a good foundation laid for next year's team."

People must, "give the girls the respect they deserve because they worked their butts off to represent the Norwich Women's Hockey Team," Goslant said.

"The women have dedication and a love for the sport," said Newcomb, "they come out to play and win and have an intensity to prove that hockey isn't just a man's sport anymore at Norwich."

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