Latest / The PodKaz: USCHO Women's Hockey / Thanksgiving trophies awarded, Princeton's 25-goal week and Ohio State's Makenna Webster stops by

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Thanksgiving trophies awarded, Princeton's 25-goal week and Ohio State's Makenna Webster stops by · The PodKaz: USCHO Women's Hockey

0:03
Speaker 1: Usccho dot Com. Hi everyone, Welcome back to the podcast.
0:13
Speaker 1: Todd Mluski here along with Nicole Hosey with us cho
0:16
Speaker 1: dot COM's weekly look at NCAA Women's hockey and probably
0:20
Speaker 1: all things women's hockey. But right now, looking at the
0:24
Speaker 1: winding up of the first half of the NCAA season,
0:27
Speaker 1: we've got an interview coming with McKenna Webster from Ohose
0:29
Speaker 1: State two sports star McKenna Webster, we should say from
0:32
Speaker 1: Ohio State, but Nicole. First of off, Hello Princeton. Last week,
0:40
Speaker 1: Princeton outscored opponents and three games twenty five to two
0:45
Speaker 1: to move up to number two in the country goals
0:47
Speaker 1: per game at five point two to three, right behind
0:51
Speaker 1: Wisconsin five point nine to four. Princeton's just outside the
0:56
Speaker 1: top fifteen in the usacho dot Com pole. Not to
1:00
Speaker 1: mention that one of those wins last week was eight
1:03
Speaker 1: to one at number thirteen Boston University and a midweek game.
1:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was gonna say, it's not just that they
1:10
Speaker 2: beat up on an opponent and a you know.
1:13
Speaker 1: Yeah in New huh and it was Stonehill for two
1:16
Speaker 1: games on the road again on the weekend, but uh one, yeah,
1:21
Speaker 1: eight one five nothing twelve to one. The three results
1:25
Speaker 1: for Princeton last week not a bad week and not
1:28
Speaker 1: a bad week for Izzy Wonder in that twelve one
1:32
Speaker 1: wins Saturday. Five goals one in the first, one the second,
1:36
Speaker 1: and then three in the third. Wow. I mean, what
1:42
Speaker 1: a week for a team to go through and just
1:45
Speaker 1: kind of run over an opponent in three straight games.
1:49
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think maybe because they weren't ranked and we
1:52
Speaker 2: weren't paying and there were some losses in there. But
1:54
Speaker 2: like scrolling back, they have one game where they scored
1:57
Speaker 2: one goal and one game where they scored two goals,
1:58
Speaker 2: and every other game they whether it's win or loss,
2:01
Speaker 2: they've scored three or more goals, like just the offensive output,
2:04
Speaker 2: which is fascinating because they graduated Sarahfiliates one season, right yeah, uh,
2:12
Speaker 2: they were not scoring like this with her on the
2:14
Speaker 2: on the team. Yeah, it's fascinating. I was I was
2:16
Speaker 2: saying to you, like over at Victory Press, I was
2:18
Speaker 2: writing up a little like midpoint, like who are some
2:22
Speaker 2: of my favorites for some of the awards, And if
2:23
Speaker 2: you go you go look at and see women's hockey stats.
2:26
Speaker 2: Right now, it's just a bunch of Badgers and Tigers
2:30
Speaker 2: because of you know, these blowout games they've played. Like
2:33
Speaker 2: it's it's really skewed it. It's not at all accurate
2:36
Speaker 2: to just like look at I mean, I don't only
2:38
Speaker 2: look at goal scored or whatever, but you look at
2:39
Speaker 2: things at like points per game and you know some
2:41
Speaker 2: other stuff, and like, nope, it's just if you were
2:45
Speaker 2: to look at the stats, which sadly a lot of
2:46
Speaker 2: voters do right now, you would just get like an
2:49
Speaker 2: entire like Patty has top ten of Well, no, I
2:52
Speaker 2: shouldn't say that. They'll be a culty from Colgate and
2:54
Speaker 2: maybe Melissa Peterman, but yeah, it's uh wow, those games
2:58
Speaker 2: really just skewed the heck out of the country stats.
3:02
Speaker 2: But yeah, I don't you know, I have to admit that,
3:05
Speaker 2: like I was not planning to watch that that Princeton
3:09
Speaker 2: be You game. I don't remember why. There was something
3:11
Speaker 2: else going on, and then I was like, I guess
3:13
Speaker 2: I'll be turning this on. Oh that's because it was
3:15
Speaker 2: two in the afternoon, that's why. Uh. But I was like, uh,
3:19
Speaker 2: excuse me, Like I saw the first score update, you know,
3:21
Speaker 2: at like four or five goals, and I was like
3:23
Speaker 2: what No, So yeah, uh guess we should. At Princeton
3:27
Speaker 2: was mad we weren't paying attention and we all need
3:29
Speaker 2: to be start doing that too. And I'd like to say, like,
3:32
Speaker 2: no offense to some other teams, but they're their upcoming
3:35
Speaker 2: schedule doesn't like make me think. I mean, they have
3:37
Speaker 2: Quinnipiac this upcoming weekend, but like they play l A
3:40
Speaker 2: U R P I in Union after that, so I'm not, like,
3:44
Speaker 2: again trying to be realistic, but friends, I don't think
3:47
Speaker 2: those are going to be low scoring games either.
3:51
Speaker 1: I did notice the the game this weekend Saturday game,
3:55
Speaker 1: Princeton hosting Quinnipiac set on Saturday, So that is one
4:00
Speaker 1: where Okay, you score twenty five goals in a week,
4:06
Speaker 1: you can't drop back down again and score two goals
4:09
Speaker 1: against Quinnipiac and and and let that ride that way.
4:13
Speaker 1: This is something you've got to follow up with that.
4:15
Speaker 1: You've got to if you're Princeton, you've got to take
4:18
Speaker 1: it back and try and get something on Quinnipiac, which
4:21
Speaker 1: is easier said than done.
4:23
Speaker 2: Well, they have one of the best goalies in the
4:24
Speaker 2: country as well, like Kaylie Doyle has been having you know,
4:27
Speaker 2: a heck of a season, So yeah, I think this
4:29
Speaker 2: will be it To me, it'll just be an interesting test, right, Like,
4:31
Speaker 2: I think it'll tell us a decent amount of both
4:34
Speaker 2: both teams in terms of like, is this this scoring
4:37
Speaker 2: output that we're seeing for Princeton for real? I mean they,
4:39
Speaker 2: like I said, they've been It's not as though it
4:41
Speaker 2: was just those three games. Obviously those were the big ones,
4:43
Speaker 2: but you know, they were putting four or five goals
4:46
Speaker 2: up on the board, you know against Colegate. You know,
4:49
Speaker 2: they scored three against Cornell and and Lee's Bergman and
4:52
Speaker 2: net another really great goalie. So I don't expect that
4:55
Speaker 2: they're not gonna score any this weekend. But yeah, I
4:59
Speaker 2: think the preparation for Quinnipiac probably changed quite a bit
5:04
Speaker 2: after the last couple of results, So yeah, it'll be interesting.
5:07
Speaker 2: I mean, Izzy Wonder is on an absolute tear. But
5:09
Speaker 2: they also Princeton also has one of the one of
5:13
Speaker 2: the best freshmen in the country doing really interesting stuff. Well,
5:16
Speaker 2: they have the Taher Holomos, but McKenzie Alexander has been
5:19
Speaker 2: absolutely like lights out and obviously like she was really
5:23
Speaker 2: good with the Candy you eighteens, but still she's having
5:26
Speaker 2: a heck of a season. So it will be.
5:29
Speaker 1: Interesting asists on Saturday for Mackenzie Alexander. Not a bad day,
5:33
Speaker 1: not a bad month for some players, but not a bad.
5:36
Speaker 2: Day, right, And I'd like to remind people, like we're
5:38
Speaker 2: talking about Princeton. This is a IVY League team, so
5:42
Speaker 2: they've only played been playing for about a month, right, Like,
5:45
Speaker 2: this is not so when we talk about freshmen usually
5:47
Speaker 2: needing some time to get used to what, you know,
5:50
Speaker 2: the speed and the stuff, Like McKenzie should be still
5:53
Speaker 2: in that window. And instead she's like, no, I'm good.
5:56
Speaker 2: I'm gonna be one of the top scoring people in
5:57
Speaker 2: the country. It's fine. I'm like several games, so yeah, fascinating.
6:04
Speaker 2: Can't wait to keep watching what's gonna happen here, because
6:07
Speaker 2: I I it's crazy. I mean, there are several of
6:10
Speaker 2: their players are now, you know, averaging more than two
6:12
Speaker 2: points a game. Yeah, McKenzie Alexander's leading the country with
6:16
Speaker 2: two point two three points per game, slightly more than
6:20
Speaker 2: Casey O'Brien, and then Izzy Wonder is third at two
6:23
Speaker 2: point one five. There are three players at two points
6:26
Speaker 2: a game and two of them are from Princeton, So
6:28
Speaker 2: uh yeah, it's a it's a fascinating. I like, I
6:31
Speaker 2: don't know what to make of it, Like I'm in
6:33
Speaker 2: the like let's wait and see, like watch it. But
6:35
Speaker 2: you certainly have my attention.
6:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, well, also getting our attention. Last week,
6:42
Speaker 1: trophies season getting started a little bit, well, the mid
6:46
Speaker 1: season trophy season, I guess.
6:48
Speaker 2: Tar trophy season.
6:50
Speaker 1: Yes, guitar trophies. You're right that guitar went to Clarkson,
6:54
Speaker 1: which won the Smashville Showcase in Nashville by beating Merrimack
6:58
Speaker 1: four nothing after squeak king past Saint Thomas five to
7:01
Speaker 1: four and overtime in the semi finals.
7:04
Speaker 2: It is surprising way to go to Saint.
7:06
Speaker 1: Thomas, and Saint Thomas took Penn State the overtime to
7:09
Speaker 1: the next day. So I mean playing two ranked teams,
7:12
Speaker 1: that's you know, Saint Thomas seemed, that's that's gone through
7:15
Speaker 1: some self.
7:16
Speaker 2: I's just gonna say, like would be impressive in isolation,
7:19
Speaker 2: but knowing the story of what's been going on with
7:21
Speaker 2: that program in the last couple of weeks, like way
7:22
Speaker 2: to you know, way to pull it all together and
7:24
Speaker 2: sort of surround themselves, like circle themselves up and play
7:27
Speaker 2: for each other as a team.
7:30
Speaker 1: Right, But Clarkson gets the win in the first game,
7:33
Speaker 1: Carolyn Geffredo with an overtime goal with one point five
7:37
Speaker 1: seconds left on the clock that had to be reviewed
7:40
Speaker 1: and checked over and did end up counting. But you know,
7:43
Speaker 1: that's it's that far away from going to a shootout
7:46
Speaker 1: to decide who advances, and you know, who knows what
7:48
Speaker 1: happens there. It's you know, Clarkson kind of gets past
7:53
Speaker 1: that one and and you know puts a stamp on
7:57
Speaker 1: in the championship game winning for nothing against Merrimack.
8:01
Speaker 2: But shout out Merrimac taking down Penn State three one, right,
8:04
Speaker 2: I mean that was their fifth win of the season.
8:06
Speaker 2: Like Merrimack is a team that is is not been
8:09
Speaker 2: putting it together that well this season, so that was
8:11
Speaker 2: a really impressive win for them.
8:13
Speaker 1: So that tournament to me was a little bit of
8:15
Speaker 1: the huh, Like, wasn't necessarily expecting maybe expected the result
8:20
Speaker 1: at the end of Clarkson coming with the trophy.
8:22
Speaker 2: But it was maybe not played Merrimac, right, maybe not.
8:25
Speaker 1: The path that that all those games took. So that
8:28
Speaker 1: that was an intriguing one for me.
8:30
Speaker 2: Yep, it was, and it was unfortunate, like I appreciate
8:33
Speaker 2: they had those games streamed on YouTube, but it was
8:35
Speaker 2: like the stationary camera at the back of the stand.
8:38
Speaker 2: So in terms of like getting a red one, what
8:41
Speaker 2: what was happening in those games and understanding of those
8:43
Speaker 2: different outcomes, I'm not I'm not sure that was possible.
8:46
Speaker 2: But yeah, may you know Merrimack Tessa Jiannicky had penciyed
8:50
Speaker 2: up when nothing after the first and Merrimack came back
8:52
Speaker 2: and scored the next three goals, the last one being
8:55
Speaker 2: an empty nutter. But yeah, continue, Like we've talked about
8:58
Speaker 2: my love for an underdog, and so I just I
9:01
Speaker 2: am I am very competitive, but I'm also very like,
9:03
Speaker 2: I just want everybody to do well. And so just
9:06
Speaker 2: like when teams that have been struggling and are not
9:08
Speaker 2: maybe living up to what they want to be able
9:11
Speaker 2: to do and hope people to do, when they get
9:12
Speaker 2: wins like this, I'm just like, I'm so jazzed for them.
9:15
Speaker 1: Well, continuing on that theme, Yale, which went into the
9:19
Speaker 1: Nutmeg Classic at five hundred, gets a win in the
9:24
Speaker 1: semifinals against Yukon number fourteen. Yukon we sem three to one,
9:28
Speaker 1: and then takes Quinnipiac to overtime and that ends up
9:31
Speaker 1: in a one to one tie and Yale wins the
9:33
Speaker 1: shootout to come away with a Nutmeg Classic championship, avenging
9:36
Speaker 1: the result from last season in that tournament of all
9:40
Speaker 1: Connecticut teams, and so that that was enough to push
9:43
Speaker 1: Yale back into the top fifteen at number fourteen. They're
9:46
Speaker 1: sitting six five and two this season. That's you know,
9:51
Speaker 1: a record that's not you know, I don't think anyone's
9:55
Speaker 1: going crazy over but winning a championship and doing you know,
10:00
Speaker 1: what you needed to do to get a trophy here
10:02
Speaker 1: at the end of November, end of December, you know,
10:06
Speaker 1: maybe sets you up for a nice little run eventually
10:10
Speaker 1: when they when they're able to get more of a
10:12
Speaker 1: runway year because you know, you have to shut it
10:14
Speaker 1: down here for winter break eventually, but maybe leads into
10:18
Speaker 1: something in the second half too.
10:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's important that like they're winning the
10:21
Speaker 2: games they're supposed to be winning, you know. Notably, they
10:23
Speaker 2: beat Princeton early on, tied Quinnipiac, you know, swept a
10:28
Speaker 2: weekend with Brown, a home and home with Brown when
10:30
Speaker 2: Brown was ranked, and then their losses to the ring
10:33
Speaker 2: other eight teams in the ectar are mostly one goal
10:35
Speaker 2: losses or overtime losses, and so that definitely that record
10:39
Speaker 2: doesn't tell their full story, right, But man, that championship
10:43
Speaker 2: game with them against Quinnipiac was a heck of a
10:45
Speaker 2: game to watch. As I mentioned Kaylie Doyle from Quinnipiac,
10:48
Speaker 2: one of the best goalies and she she had herself
10:52
Speaker 2: a game that time, and and but p of Duke
10:54
Speaker 2: ch was amazing in the shootout. And I think importantly,
10:58
Speaker 2: I think Yale buys their own right, like they're I
11:01
Speaker 2: think they're their best hype women. Like I think they
11:03
Speaker 2: know that they're a little better than their their record,
11:06
Speaker 2: and they know that people haven't been paying attention because
11:08
Speaker 2: of the record. And I don't know, they just they
11:10
Speaker 2: play like they're feeling themselves, like they know that they're
11:12
Speaker 2: a really good team, and the just kind of confidence
11:16
Speaker 2: that they carried in that shootout. But man, that was
11:18
Speaker 2: one of the most hung games to watch in the
11:20
Speaker 2: last couple of weeks.
11:21
Speaker 1: The Mayor's Cup in Providence on Saturday, Brown winning that
11:25
Speaker 1: one three to two over the Friars India mcdotti brokeing
11:29
Speaker 1: a to two tight thirty nine seconds into the third
11:32
Speaker 1: period for the final margin there. Brown's house up and
11:38
Speaker 1: down right for some season, looked really good for a while,
11:42
Speaker 1: took a few steps back.
11:46
Speaker 2: That's what happens when your building right, it is right.
11:48
Speaker 1: And I think anytime you win a trophy and the
11:51
Speaker 1: time you win a rivalry game, that gets you up
11:54
Speaker 1: a little bit more.
11:55
Speaker 2: Well, it was their first one in ten to eleven years,
11:58
Speaker 2: since twenty fourteen, so not just that they wanted, but
12:01
Speaker 2: the bit first win in you know, a very long
12:04
Speaker 2: time for Brown in that Mayor's Cup. So like as
12:06
Speaker 2: you said, I think anytime you win, that's a it's
12:08
Speaker 2: a boost, but that particularly knowing that it was a
12:11
Speaker 2: long time coming and that like I think that for
12:14
Speaker 2: a while, that was just like it was given that
12:17
Speaker 2: the providence was going to take that win. And so
12:20
Speaker 2: just a big another one of those sort of milestones
12:23
Speaker 2: for Brown to know that like they're they're building, they're
12:26
Speaker 2: changing you know, the past and making some you know,
12:29
Speaker 2: making the program something different and growing. So yeah, congratulations
12:33
Speaker 2: to them. I think that must have just been an
12:35
Speaker 2: absolutely huge, huge win for them.
12:38
Speaker 1: And in Hockey East on Saturday, Boston College shutout Northeastern
12:42
Speaker 1: three nothing behind a twenty three saved shutout from Grace Campbell.
12:47
Speaker 1: Boston College moved up from eleventh to tenth in the
12:51
Speaker 1: U s eho dot Com Pole this week. It's you know,
12:56
Speaker 1: they're they're right in that mix. They're in that and
13:00
Speaker 1: their their pair wise number and their NPI is better
13:03
Speaker 1: than that, so they're they're in the mix for talking
13:06
Speaker 1: about in that large spot in the NCAA tournament if
13:09
Speaker 1: it gets to that point, if they're not able to
13:11
Speaker 1: win the Hockey East title, so.
13:14
Speaker 2: Well, and you gotta win, Like these are the types
13:15
Speaker 2: of games you have to win. I mean, you know,
13:18
Speaker 2: we've talked about in Hockey East maybe sometimes that the
13:20
Speaker 2: losses you shouldn't have against teams, but like this was
13:22
Speaker 2: a prime time on nesson like huge game for them,
13:25
Speaker 2: and they went out and like no doubt, one three nothing.
13:28
Speaker 2: It was also Katie Crowley's four hundredth career win, so
13:31
Speaker 2: congratulations coach. That's a massive accomplishment. But yeah, I just
13:35
Speaker 2: I thought it was. I mean, I think I've said
13:38
Speaker 2: this before, but in years past, like there are times
13:39
Speaker 2: when you're like waiting for BC to sort of like
13:41
Speaker 2: take that next step or like the opportunities there, the
13:44
Speaker 2: doors open, and then they would sort of go out
13:46
Speaker 2: and lay an egg and not win a game that
13:48
Speaker 2: you were like, oh, you needed those points and that
13:50
Speaker 2: would have been so good. So for them to like
13:52
Speaker 2: have this one off really sort of big, big deal
13:55
Speaker 2: game and go out and win it definitively right, like
14:00
Speaker 2: it was an empty net or but like they had
14:02
Speaker 2: this game you know they played well, there wasn't It
14:05
Speaker 2: wasn't something they squeaked out or had to win in overtime.
14:09
Speaker 2: Like this was a pretty secure win for them. And
14:13
Speaker 2: so yeah, I just I was excited to see that
14:15
Speaker 2: for them. And I think, like you said, they're they're
14:18
Speaker 2: polling lower than their numbers ultimately show that they should be.
14:21
Speaker 2: And so yeah, imagine two Hockey East teams in the
14:25
Speaker 2: in the tournament at large Hockey East team.
14:27
Speaker 1: It feels like it's been a while or that we've
14:30
Speaker 1: been talking abouts of that, but that that could be
14:32
Speaker 1: the case of this area. Yeah, what else jumped out
14:35
Speaker 1: of you about Thanksgiving weekend?
14:39
Speaker 2: Well, I was a really interesting series between Saint Coades
14:42
Speaker 2: Stanton Union and as we talked about just sort of
14:44
Speaker 2: seeing West coast East coast teams or how you that
14:47
Speaker 2: west coast but East and West teams, Uh, Midwest coast,
14:51
Speaker 2: Midwest coast, Yeah, Great Lakes coast. But anyway, it's just
14:55
Speaker 2: we you know, sometimes we see the top teams for
14:57
Speaker 2: each other, but it's actually kind of nice to see
14:59
Speaker 2: sort of like middle of the table or lower teams
15:01
Speaker 2: for each other and see like where they're where they're
15:03
Speaker 2: matching up with each other. So really good series from Union, right,
15:07
Speaker 2: Like they they got massively out shot, and they were
15:10
Speaker 2: but they they weathered the storm and you know, had
15:13
Speaker 2: some great goaltending and I just thought it was really interesting.
15:16
Speaker 2: I'm not necessarily I sure I expected Union to be
15:19
Speaker 2: able to pull off what they did, so, you know,
15:22
Speaker 2: just good for them, and I think it's just, uh,
15:24
Speaker 2: it's good for I think Saint Cloud to play a
15:28
Speaker 2: game like that where they're gonna get frustrated and put
15:30
Speaker 2: all those shots and not be able to answer. I
15:31
Speaker 2: think like they'll learn a lot from that series as well.
15:34
Speaker 2: But yeah, I they won in a nine run shoot
15:38
Speaker 2: at Union one in a nine one shoot nine round
15:41
Speaker 2: shootout in game one, and then Saint Cloud took a
15:44
Speaker 2: two one win in the second game. So just a
15:46
Speaker 2: closer series than I think I expected it to be,
15:48
Speaker 2: but I thought it was it was really cool to
15:50
Speaker 2: to sort of see the two different styles and and
15:52
Speaker 2: where those two teams match up.
15:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, Saint Cloud's got a big series coming up this weekend,
15:57
Speaker 1: which we'll touch on a little bit later in the show.
15:59
Speaker 1: But when we come back, McKenna Webster from Ohio State
16:02
Speaker 1: will join us, so seale us on the podcast. Hi,
16:10
Speaker 1: welcome back to the podcast. Todd Loski here with Nicole
16:13
Speaker 1: Hosey and our special guests from the Ohio State University
16:16
Speaker 1: of McKenna Webster. McKenna, thanks for being with us. Happy
16:19
Speaker 1: holidays to you. We're really happy you're with us as
16:24
Speaker 1: a as someone who can talk about what it's like
16:27
Speaker 1: being a fifty year player in college hockey but also
16:31
Speaker 1: a player in field hockey, because that is really something
16:33
Speaker 1: that you don't see a ton of any more, two
16:35
Speaker 1: sport athletes in college. And I wanted to ask you
16:40
Speaker 1: right away how difficult that's been to balance being as
16:46
Speaker 1: good as you are into sports over over a length
16:49
Speaker 1: of time like this.
16:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean in the past three years been playing both.
16:54
Speaker 3: Obviously there's hard days, but like I always say, Ohio
16:58
Speaker 3: s has the resources and the communication to allow me
17:02
Speaker 3: to so I would say it's been it's been going smoothly,
17:06
Speaker 3: so it's been good.
17:08
Speaker 2: You started your career at the University of Wisconsin and
17:12
Speaker 2: then transferred because Wisconsin doesn't have a field hockey team
17:17
Speaker 2: and you wanted to be able to do both sports.
17:19
Speaker 2: Can you just kind of talk us through sort of
17:20
Speaker 2: that decision. Obviously then you had not been playing field
17:23
Speaker 2: hockey at that level, and so like were you playing,
17:27
Speaker 2: you know, outside of the ice hockey season. Can you
17:30
Speaker 2: kind of just talk us through sort of the process
17:32
Speaker 2: in choosing Wisconsin and then at one point deciding that,
17:35
Speaker 2: like you wanted to put some focus on field hockey
17:38
Speaker 2: and I think for you probably focus on trying to
17:40
Speaker 2: make a national team, and just sort of how that
17:43
Speaker 2: all came about.
17:44
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would say kind of decided to go to
17:47
Speaker 3: Wisconsin only play ice hockey for my goal to be
17:51
Speaker 3: on the national team, be on the Olympic team. And
17:53
Speaker 3: then after those two years things aren't really aliging, like
17:57
Speaker 3: no matter. Well I was kind of doing which is sad,
18:03
Speaker 3: but in reality, I just decided my second year kind
18:07
Speaker 3: of by the end, I'm like, if I have the
18:09
Speaker 3: opportunity to play two sports in college, why didn't I
18:12
Speaker 3: take it? I was missing field hockey obviously is some success.
18:17
Speaker 3: When I was younger with it, and the last few
18:20
Speaker 3: years of kind of deciding in high school about college,
18:23
Speaker 3: I was debating on playing both and then it's kind
18:28
Speaker 3: of kind of my sophomore year, I'm like, I'm gonna
18:30
Speaker 3: do it and got in the portal and that's what
18:32
Speaker 3: I was looking for, only to play at schools that
18:35
Speaker 3: had both sports.
18:37
Speaker 1: What was it like from you know, talking with coaches
18:41
Speaker 1: about that, wanting to be part of two sports because
18:45
Speaker 1: I know every coach wants you on their team, but
18:48
Speaker 1: you wanted to go in this splitting with sports that
18:52
Speaker 1: overlap each other in terms of schedules. How how were
18:55
Speaker 1: that were those conversations like with coaches to find this
18:59
Speaker 1: a fit for or that that they'd be okay with.
19:04
Speaker 3: Yeah, so obviously if you go to school, choose a
19:07
Speaker 3: team you're on, they want you for that whole year.
19:10
Speaker 3: But it was pretty interesting. A conversation I had with
19:13
Speaker 3: various different schools were really understanding and they knew that
19:17
Speaker 3: I couldn't be at everything at all times, but they
19:20
Speaker 3: basically said, if we have you that this amount of time,
19:23
Speaker 3: like we want you. And so it's pretty cool that
19:27
Speaker 3: both sports within the schools wanted me and allowed me
19:31
Speaker 3: to do that because obviously it's not fair a lot
19:33
Speaker 3: not being around all the time. So conversations went well
19:36
Speaker 3: and the schools that I was deciding from was okay
19:39
Speaker 3: with no matter what I did.
19:41
Speaker 2: With ice hockey having such a long season, like it's
19:44
Speaker 2: kind of impossible not to overlap, right, but like once
19:46
Speaker 2: field hockey season is over, you do like you still
19:49
Speaker 2: have several months of the ice hockey season that you
19:51
Speaker 2: can you're solely focusing on.
19:53
Speaker 3: Yes, which is also nice playing a sport like ice
19:56
Speaker 3: hockey which has a long season and obviously there's overlap.
19:59
Speaker 3: So it worked out playing I think five weeks this year,
20:03
Speaker 3: playing three games in a weekend.
20:06
Speaker 2: Goodness for you. I guess I wanted to ask what
20:08
Speaker 2: that can you tell us for people that are maybe
20:10
Speaker 2: not familiar with either one of the sports, maybe their
20:13
Speaker 2: field hockey people listening or ice hockey people listening. How
20:15
Speaker 2: the two storts inform each other for you and how
20:18
Speaker 2: you use the skills that you've learned in both in
20:22
Speaker 2: the other sport, Like, how do those two work together
20:25
Speaker 2: for you?
20:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's funny. We're kind of talking about this today
20:27
Speaker 3: about how like espnW posted on Instagram and the comments
20:32
Speaker 3: are basically saying, that's the same as playing beach volleyball
20:36
Speaker 3: and regular volleyball are running two sprints in track, but
20:40
Speaker 3: in reality they're completely different. The training's completely different, it's
20:44
Speaker 3: played way different. Obviously, field hockey on you can use
20:47
Speaker 3: one side of the sick a lot different rules. So
20:52
Speaker 3: I would just say, obviously a team sport work ethic,
20:56
Speaker 3: like growing up, that's the similarities to it playing on
20:59
Speaker 3: a team sport and kind of just working as hard
21:02
Speaker 3: as you can. But besides that, it's completely opposite when
21:06
Speaker 3: it comes to everything else.
21:08
Speaker 1: Your parents were really high level athletes when they're growing up, right,
21:12
Speaker 1: and that they continue and playing in the college. And
21:14
Speaker 1: I wonder how much of that, you know, athleticism is
21:18
Speaker 1: just kind of running in your family feel, and there
21:20
Speaker 1: is this kind of a continuation of that of like
21:23
Speaker 1: wanting to be competitive in a lot of different areas.
21:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think growing up obviously having a successful brother
21:29
Speaker 3: in ice hockey, growing up, always competitive, family, always competitive.
21:35
Speaker 3: They both played at high levels, so and they encourage
21:38
Speaker 3: us to like learning a lot from them kind of
21:41
Speaker 3: what it takes to be a Division one athlete. We
21:44
Speaker 3: kind of learned that from starting from them and then
21:46
Speaker 3: going into the competitive nature of me and my brother
21:49
Speaker 3: and just wanting to be always better than him kind
21:52
Speaker 3: of allowed me to be where I am today.
21:56
Speaker 2: When it came to picking up field hockey after your
21:59
Speaker 2: second year, your sophomore in terms of like how were
22:04
Speaker 2: coaches because you hadn't been playing obviously in college, and
22:07
Speaker 2: so I was just curious how that went in terms
22:08
Speaker 2: of how you were like had to sell yourself for show, like, wait,
22:12
Speaker 2: I can still I'm still this good, I can still
22:14
Speaker 2: compete at this level, like sell yourself a little to them.
22:18
Speaker 3: Yeah, honestly, I think kind of being younger, been playing
22:25
Speaker 3: throughout my senior year, going to lots of camps and
22:28
Speaker 3: be able to make the team that went to Germany,
22:32
Speaker 3: coaches were able to see me there, and I think
22:35
Speaker 3: it was kind of just there, either take a bet
22:37
Speaker 3: on me and it's good or it's not. So I
22:41
Speaker 3: would say that because obviously people haven't seen me play
22:43
Speaker 3: in two and a half years, so it was more
22:47
Speaker 3: just we'll try to build you back up.
22:51
Speaker 1: Did it take a while. Did it feel like, you know,
22:54
Speaker 1: maybe because you're in you were in such good shape
22:56
Speaker 1: from playing ice hockey that you were a be able
23:00
Speaker 1: to keep that going a little bit, even though you're saying,
23:02
Speaker 1: you know, it's different training, it's different. You know, parts
23:05
Speaker 1: of your body you're using obviously, but.
23:09
Speaker 3: What was that like, Yeah, I was gonna say, like,
23:12
Speaker 3: my first year here is definitely tough. It is definitely
23:15
Speaker 3: tough balancing both sports, but getting back into field hockey,
23:18
Speaker 3: getting back into running, getting back in systematically of the sport,
23:22
Speaker 3: the technical part of the sports, and just my stick skills.
23:27
Speaker 3: But I think over time and eventually got better being
23:30
Speaker 3: more successful. My second year, I kind of needed to
23:33
Speaker 3: get under my feet again, not only the skills, but
23:36
Speaker 3: just kind of the game and understanding, especially at that
23:38
Speaker 3: college level where I never played high school for field hockey,
23:41
Speaker 3: so I never played at the highest level with that.
23:44
Speaker 3: So the transition took me a little longer, but eventually
23:47
Speaker 3: I was able to get where I needed to be.
23:51
Speaker 2: I feel like, you have to be the world's most
23:52
Speaker 2: organized person to be a two sport. Do you want
23:55
Speaker 2: an athlete like that? How like just and what kind
24:00
Speaker 2: of skilled maybe the off I stuff or maybe like
24:03
Speaker 2: what have you learned from from doing what you've been
24:05
Speaker 2: doing the past couple of years. What are the big takeaways.
24:08
Speaker 3: Takeaways is just a lot of communication, a lot of
24:13
Speaker 3: sometimes reflecting about how your body feels and how much
24:16
Speaker 3: you can endure. Just with that time management. I mean
24:20
Speaker 3: playing one sports obviously so tough. Let alone to have
24:25
Speaker 3: good time management. Just as I said, communication kind of
24:28
Speaker 3: telling what your needs and just having communication between each
24:33
Speaker 3: sports has been great.
24:36
Speaker 1: I wanted to take you back the last season last
24:38
Speaker 1: March and April. Really, you're in National, you're in Frozen four,
24:44
Speaker 1: your brother mckaid's and the n NCAA's championship at the
24:48
Speaker 1: same time. You win a championship. A couple of weeks later,
24:52
Speaker 1: he does too. How can you just put that those
24:55
Speaker 1: few weeks into in the perspective as a family and
24:58
Speaker 1: what that meant. We've seen it happen before that, you know,
25:02
Speaker 1: brothers and sisters win the same season. But I'd love
25:06
Speaker 1: just for some perspective on what that meant for you
25:09
Speaker 1: all and how what it was like going through it
25:11
Speaker 1: on both sides of the glass, winning a championship on
25:16
Speaker 1: the ice and watching it happen from right on the
25:19
Speaker 1: other side of the glass.
25:21
Speaker 3: Yeah, first one to say, on the other side, I
25:23
Speaker 3: understand like how parents are now. I don't know if
25:28
Speaker 3: I can have kids after watching my brother and I
25:30
Speaker 3: think that was more nervous for him than myself. But
25:34
Speaker 3: obviously winning national championship for US last year was such
25:39
Speaker 3: an amazing experience after what happened the year before US
25:42
Speaker 3: losing coming back when with kind of a new team
25:46
Speaker 3: and a very great team, like one of the best teams.
25:49
Speaker 3: I think anyone could say that was is ever going
25:53
Speaker 3: to be a team. So winning that and the work
25:55
Speaker 3: we put in, it's just again any talking to any
25:58
Speaker 3: of Ohio State coach, the work we put in is
26:02
Speaker 3: second to none, and all we want to do is
26:06
Speaker 3: strive to win and obviously the goals to win the
26:10
Speaker 3: last game of the year and we're always doing that.
26:13
Speaker 3: So great to win that, and then I was able
26:16
Speaker 3: to fly to watch my brother and his semi finals
26:22
Speaker 3: in before the Frozen Four or going into the Frozen Four,
26:26
Speaker 3: which I was awesome too. And it was really cool
26:30
Speaker 3: just seeing him as the captain the team leading that
26:32
Speaker 3: team as he wasn't one of the best players on
26:34
Speaker 3: the team, he wasn't the goal scorer, but they chose
26:37
Speaker 3: him as a captain for a reason and just shows
26:39
Speaker 3: like how great of a person he is to be
26:42
Speaker 3: wearing a seat in that situation and going off that
26:46
Speaker 3: he had so many injuries, struggling with his last few seasons,
26:51
Speaker 3: so being able to finish on top and then eventually
26:54
Speaker 3: having to retire due to all his injuries, even though
26:57
Speaker 3: he got a call from Tampa Bay sad his body
27:01
Speaker 3: just couldn't handle anymore. So finishing out my parents get
27:05
Speaker 3: to see his last time ever playing sports again was
27:07
Speaker 3: winning so as the captain of Denver, which is one
27:11
Speaker 3: of one of the best schools for men's hockey. So
27:14
Speaker 3: it was pretty cool.
27:18
Speaker 2: You sound it sounds like you're getting emotional just talking
27:20
Speaker 2: about it, Like how how close are you guys? How much?
27:22
Speaker 2: I mean, I would assume playing the same sport like you,
27:25
Speaker 2: there's I would assume there's both, but competitiveness and support
27:27
Speaker 2: and just for you as as a player, like you
27:30
Speaker 2: were saying, like being not wanting to be a parent,
27:33
Speaker 2: Like are you just kind of the person sticking in
27:35
Speaker 2: the chair, Like no, you know, it's like pass it here,
27:38
Speaker 2: do this? Why didn't you do that? I'm just curious
27:40
Speaker 2: about sort of like the sport and then what it
27:41
Speaker 2: feels like to not be able to have the control
27:43
Speaker 2: in that situation where you would much rather be the
27:45
Speaker 2: person on the ice.
27:49
Speaker 3: Yeah, say can you repeat?
27:53
Speaker 4: Like sure?
27:53
Speaker 2: Yeah? Just what was it? Are you and your brother competitive?
27:56
Speaker 2: Like did you grow up playing together? Like how what
27:58
Speaker 2: is the relationship that you two have?
28:00
Speaker 3: Oh? Yeah, yeah, so grew up always playing together or
28:05
Speaker 3: like playing together, shooting pucks down in our basement, always
28:08
Speaker 3: competing that way, playing horse, playing pig. One time I
28:13
Speaker 3: somehow like took a shot and gave him a black guy.
28:16
Speaker 3: We have lots of stories growing up, but we did
28:19
Speaker 3: a bunch of camps growing up, lots of skills session,
28:21
Speaker 3: get up at six am before school a lot of days,
28:26
Speaker 3: and just kind of did the grind together. So I
28:28
Speaker 3: think it was always competitive, but to a point. Obviously,
28:32
Speaker 3: he's just he's a guy excels a lot lot faster
28:36
Speaker 3: than me, So it kind of turned in to instead
28:38
Speaker 3: of the competitiveness, more helping out and kind of being supportive.
28:42
Speaker 3: And obviously we went to Shaddock for two years together
28:45
Speaker 3: and having him there was pretty cool, and like going
28:47
Speaker 3: to watch his games and he went to go watch
28:50
Speaker 3: my games, probably more to like see my teammates play,
28:52
Speaker 3: but it was still it was still nice he was there.
28:56
Speaker 4: You've been on both sides of the Ohio State Whisky
29:00
Speaker 4: and rival now and I mean we see how how
29:04
Speaker 4: intense those games are from the from the outside, from
29:07
Speaker 4: the seats, can you can you express what they're like.
29:12
Speaker 1: On the ice inside the boards of just how good
29:16
Speaker 1: that that feels to be in a game that's that
29:20
Speaker 1: really evenly matched between teams and you know you're playing
29:22
Speaker 1: at the highest level of NCAA hockey.
29:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean those are my favorite games to play.
29:28
Speaker 3: Then like Minnesota, but going to just Wisconsin is just
29:33
Speaker 3: being on first. Being on the Wisconsin side, it's like
29:35
Speaker 3: going into house Sate. I didn't know too many people personally.
29:39
Speaker 3: I just knew, like, wow, these girls work hard and
29:42
Speaker 3: they will do anything to win, like lay their body out,
29:45
Speaker 3: and playing them is like the hardest games ever. And
29:52
Speaker 3: it came down to who wanted it more. And it's
29:55
Speaker 3: just a different style that we saw. And then kind
29:58
Speaker 3: of coming over to Ohio State, like you see how
30:01
Speaker 3: coach Mas trains us to do that and what the
30:04
Speaker 3: work we put in. And I have so many kudos
30:06
Speaker 3: for the girls before us when I was on Wisconsin.
30:09
Speaker 3: So it's just so it's so interesting to see, but
30:12
Speaker 3: the rivalry is just it's amazing. And playing with all
30:16
Speaker 3: those girls I've played in the past. I played with
30:19
Speaker 3: some Wisconsin girls, played with them at camps, and then
30:22
Speaker 3: I stay obviously playing with all of them. It's just
30:24
Speaker 3: I feel like I know every single person on the ice.
30:27
Speaker 3: But it's just still such a huge rivalry and it
30:30
Speaker 3: just comes literally, like I said before, it just comes
30:32
Speaker 3: down who wants it more. Because both teams super skilled,
30:35
Speaker 3: Both teams have so many national team players, and it's
30:38
Speaker 3: just it's so awesome.
30:39
Speaker 2: Is there a grudging respect between the two Do you think?
30:43
Speaker 3: Yeah? I think for like, we really respect them, Like
30:47
Speaker 3: we know how great of players every single one of
30:50
Speaker 3: them are. You can see it on NCAA stats. It's
30:53
Speaker 3: just they're all amazing players. They're all like representing their
30:56
Speaker 3: country and like they put in the work. They're great players.
31:01
Speaker 3: But like so are we. Like I respect so many
31:03
Speaker 3: players on our team. Most of our team is going
31:06
Speaker 3: to four nations, and it's just it's so awesome to
31:08
Speaker 3: see on both teams. It's such a respect thing playing them,
31:13
Speaker 3: and it's just it's so awesome to play them. Like
31:15
Speaker 3: I feel like sometimes we learn a lot from playing them.
31:19
Speaker 1: I was wondering because the big game coming up is
31:24
Speaker 1: Wisconsin Ohio State, first here in Madison and then going
31:28
Speaker 1: to Rialley Field for that January fourth game. One part
31:35
Speaker 1: of it is can you just maybe get into what
31:39
Speaker 1: the excitement level is like for that for to be
31:41
Speaker 1: on that big of a stage. And then two, I
31:45
Speaker 1: would imagine from having played at Wisconsin, you know a
31:49
Speaker 1: lot of the Obviously you know the players, but you
31:50
Speaker 1: know their parents. You have to see them around at things.
31:53
Speaker 1: I'm sure you know Casey O'Brien's parents, you've known them
31:56
Speaker 1: for years. What is that like, you know, having that
31:59
Speaker 1: interaction of you know, maybe we don't range into each
32:02
Speaker 1: other very often, but I would imagine there's still some
32:05
Speaker 1: some pretty good feelings there.
32:07
Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean it's pretty funny. Actually, after our game
32:10
Speaker 3: we played a few weeks ago, my parents, who are
32:13
Speaker 3: on the Wisconsin side, the whole time after the game,
32:18
Speaker 3: kind of like when we were all coming up and
32:19
Speaker 3: saying hi to our parents, and they had no idea
32:22
Speaker 3: that there's two different sides because they were hanging out
32:24
Speaker 3: with all Wisconsin's parents just saying hi, just checking in
32:28
Speaker 3: because I've known so many of them grow up with
32:33
Speaker 3: a good amount and just respect for them and all
32:36
Speaker 3: my friends. So it's pretty awesome playing them. I feel
32:39
Speaker 3: like I always hang out and have such good conversations.
32:41
Speaker 3: But so it's pretty funny. My parents love them too.
32:45
Speaker 3: But eventually I told them where they were supposed to
32:47
Speaker 3: stand after the games, know how the state side, but
32:51
Speaker 3: went back to the game. I think it's just such
32:54
Speaker 3: a unique opportunity on its own, just playing at real
32:58
Speaker 3: Wrigley Field, playing outside, I mean, I've never got to
33:01
Speaker 3: do an outdoor game, so it's just it's such a
33:04
Speaker 3: unique opportunity. And playing Wisconsin on that feel, it's just
33:08
Speaker 3: I mean, it's there. Couldn't have been a better setup
33:10
Speaker 3: for that game.
33:12
Speaker 2: I have to ask, are you a Cards fan? Are
33:14
Speaker 2: you a Cardinals fan?
33:15
Speaker 3: Yeah? Yes, I haven't been in Saint Louis for a while,
33:18
Speaker 3: but I went to one of their World Series wins.
33:21
Speaker 3: I want to say it's twenty eleven, but I can't
33:23
Speaker 3: quite remember. But the Cardinals are on. I'm cheering for them,
33:27
Speaker 3: but I can't probably tell you what their record is.
33:30
Speaker 2: It's just laughing at like of the Wisconsin folks and
33:32
Speaker 2: now you from Saint Louis, like going into Wrigley Field,
33:35
Speaker 2: like not exactly home territory. I know, we kind of
33:41
Speaker 2: just jumped right in, and I guess we kind of assume,
33:43
Speaker 2: but I just want to make sure. I just want
33:44
Speaker 2: to talk a little bit about like the people understand that, like,
33:46
Speaker 2: you know, you were the like number six score in
33:48
Speaker 2: the nation in field hockey, Like when you're doing this,
33:52
Speaker 2: you had twenty six points last season and ice hockey League,
33:54
Speaker 2: you were performing You're not just playing two D one sports,
33:57
Speaker 2: but like performing at this really elite level. I kind
34:00
Speaker 2: of threw in there, like you had a couple three
34:01
Speaker 2: game weekends, like just this absolutely sort of elite. Like
34:06
Speaker 2: I don't think people can wrap their heads around sort
34:08
Speaker 2: of what it is that you're going out there and doing.
34:10
Speaker 2: And so I just wanted to ask, can you tell
34:12
Speaker 2: us a little bit about like what it takes for
34:14
Speaker 2: you to switch between those two over the course of
34:16
Speaker 2: the weekend or is at this point is it just
34:18
Speaker 2: sort of like muscle memory, Like you got out a different,
34:21
Speaker 2: different outfit, different uniforms, so you know what you're doing.
34:24
Speaker 2: But yeah, I just like this isn't just that like
34:27
Speaker 2: you're doing something like this. You were out there being
34:29
Speaker 2: one of the best players in the country in field hockey,
34:31
Speaker 2: and then also you know, really contributing. It's it's uh
34:35
Speaker 2: for ice hockey as well, and have in the past
34:37
Speaker 2: had some of the best numbers in the country in
34:39
Speaker 2: ice hockey, and so I mean, it's just it's just
34:42
Speaker 2: this really impressive thing. I mean, we kind of just
34:44
Speaker 2: want walked into the interview started asking you questions. What
34:46
Speaker 2: I want to make sure our listeners know that that
34:49
Speaker 2: this is this is big deal stuff that you're doing,
34:51
Speaker 2: and you're you know, you're working towards playing you know,
34:53
Speaker 2: in the Olympics and for the US national team. So
34:55
Speaker 2: can you just tell us a little bit about you know,
34:57
Speaker 2: that transition and then maybe what the the work looks
35:01
Speaker 2: like coming up next for field hockey.
35:05
Speaker 3: Yeah, obviously playing three games in a weekend, nuts it's crazy,
35:11
Speaker 3: but I always tell people like I don't have time
35:13
Speaker 3: to think. I just go and do it. But it's
35:17
Speaker 3: definitely a little different switching between both sports every other day,
35:23
Speaker 3: Like I said, completely different different mindset. Going in prepare
35:26
Speaker 3: differently like field hockey at wake up, maybe put a sweatshirts, sweatpants,
35:29
Speaker 3: go to our game and it's done by three hockey
35:33
Speaker 3: like we have pregame skate, we have meals, we we
35:37
Speaker 3: dress up, and we have like a whole system. So
35:41
Speaker 3: definitely different. But I feel like it's just been muscle
35:45
Speaker 3: memory after these three years. I know, I know what
35:47
Speaker 3: it's like going into an ice hockey game. I know
35:48
Speaker 3: how to prepare, and then Sames field hockey is just
35:52
Speaker 3: you gotta have the same mindset kind of just what
35:55
Speaker 3: you're gonna do today, Like I'm gonna go out there
35:57
Speaker 3: and be successful like personally but especially with the team.
36:02
Speaker 2: So yeah, and then what does like in terms of
36:06
Speaker 2: working towards like national team stuff and things like that,
36:08
Speaker 2: what does that look like for field hockey, like moving
36:11
Speaker 2: forward now that you're sort of your collegiate career is over,
36:13
Speaker 2: and what what you are hoping you know what comes next?
36:17
Speaker 3: Yeah, Actually last week I traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina
36:21
Speaker 3: and played with the senior national team in a three
36:25
Speaker 3: game series against Germany. So I missed more games. I
36:28
Speaker 3: missed man Cato weekend, which obviously is not ideal. But
36:32
Speaker 3: I gotta think too of the my future, but just
36:37
Speaker 3: kind of keep trying to camp in actually December for
36:41
Speaker 3: a team later on in the year. So I'm just
36:44
Speaker 3: gonna keep keep grinding, keep seeing the opportunities that I
36:47
Speaker 3: have given and just try my best to get on teams.
36:51
Speaker 3: And my goals in life is just I want to
36:54
Speaker 3: keep playing as long as it can at the highest level.
36:56
Speaker 3: Like dream has always been an Olympians, So do whatever
36:59
Speaker 3: it can and to make that dream happen.
37:04
Speaker 1: Last question for me before I turn it back over
37:06
Speaker 1: to Nicole, is you've been on a couple of NCAA
37:10
Speaker 1: championship teams, one right away as a freshman, then again
37:13
Speaker 1: last season. You've also been really really close and not one.
37:22
Speaker 1: What's the thing that puts it over the top. I mean,
37:25
Speaker 1: when you talk about being there to win a championship
37:28
Speaker 1: and and being the one that actually does it, it's
37:32
Speaker 1: miles apart the feeling afterward. But I wonder if you
37:36
Speaker 1: have any thoughts on just what it takes, I guess
37:40
Speaker 1: even to be there in that conversation, but also to
37:43
Speaker 1: to be the one that's left standing at the end.
37:45
Speaker 1: And is there is there something you can point to there?
37:50
Speaker 3: Yeah? I mean it's hard. I've I've lost in the championship,
37:53
Speaker 3: won in the championship, lost in the semi finals, but
37:58
Speaker 3: any team can win on any given day, depending like
38:01
Speaker 3: how hard you work, no matter who's on your team
38:04
Speaker 3: and how skilled someone is, every team's going to give
38:07
Speaker 3: you their best, so kind of taking each game one
38:11
Speaker 3: on one and one game out of time. But getting
38:14
Speaker 3: into that championship is just all the work that you've
38:17
Speaker 3: done throughout the year, Like that's the moment that you
38:21
Speaker 3: need to put it all and just go and leave
38:24
Speaker 3: everything out there. But I wouldn't say I think the
38:28
Speaker 3: year we lost mentally it was just something weird. Our
38:32
Speaker 3: team just wasn't there. We had the people we easily
38:36
Speaker 3: just hard Wisconsin, like they're so great, you know, always
38:39
Speaker 3: one bounce can lead to a national championship, which is
38:44
Speaker 3: tough in the sport. It's hard to win. But she's
38:49
Speaker 3: got to be ready. I don't know, I don't know
38:50
Speaker 3: what exactly is the way to win it in the championship,
38:56
Speaker 3: but you got to do everything you can.
38:59
Speaker 2: There's just sort of nobody that has the range of
39:02
Speaker 2: experience that you have, having played for these two top teams,
39:04
Speaker 2: playing the two sports, the national championships, the stuff with
39:08
Speaker 2: the national team in field hockey, the junior national team
39:13
Speaker 2: in ice hockey. Do you have can you give like
39:16
Speaker 2: one piece of advice or like one big thing you've learned,
39:20
Speaker 2: or what you take away from all of this that
39:22
Speaker 2: that maybe can help other people. Just it's just such
39:25
Speaker 2: a unique experience and I think it would be helpful
39:28
Speaker 2: to hear, like what you take from this that other
39:31
Speaker 2: like other younger players might be able to use.
39:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would just say the people around, the people
39:37
Speaker 3: that helped you, like where you are, never forget that
39:42
Speaker 3: and listen to what people have to say, like growing
39:44
Speaker 3: up from when you're little, from coaches you've had, from trainers,
39:48
Speaker 3: from everyone. Listen to them because all they wanted is
39:51
Speaker 3: the best for you. And as you grow up you
39:52
Speaker 3: meet so many great people and just having that connection
39:56
Speaker 3: kind of supporting them, having them supporting you in the future,
40:01
Speaker 3: like so many things, opportunities will happen, but just being
40:06
Speaker 3: a great person. Obviously anyone can be such a great athlete,
40:11
Speaker 3: can do well in sports, but it all just takes
40:13
Speaker 3: being a great person and leave your legacy in a
40:17
Speaker 3: great way. And then like in the past, when growing up,
40:21
Speaker 3: I know that I'll have so many connections to help
40:24
Speaker 3: support me or someone else in the future. So just
40:27
Speaker 3: moral a story wrapping it up is just the connections
40:30
Speaker 3: you have with people and how you treat people.
40:33
Speaker 2: Perfect. Thank you so much. We appreciate the time.
40:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, McKenna Webster a twenty twenty one champion at Wisconsin,
40:39
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four champion at our house state. I got
40:41
Speaker 1: to think that might be the only two championships at
40:46
Speaker 1: different schools and women's hockey. I haven't done the research
40:49
Speaker 1: on that, but just off the top of my head,
40:51
Speaker 1: I'm thinking you're one of one, McKenna. So congratulations on that.
40:55
Speaker 1: Best of luck with everything here the rest of the
40:57
Speaker 1: season and then going forward with everything you do. And
41:00
Speaker 1: thanks a lot for joining us.
41:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you for having me.
41:04
Speaker 2: Good buck with the field hockey. We're excited to watch.
41:06
Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you.
41:08
Speaker 2: Thanks.
41:08
Speaker 1: All right, stay with us on the podcast. We'll be
41:10
Speaker 1: read back. Welcome back to the podcast. Todd Molluski here
41:19
Speaker 1: with Nicole Hosey. Nicole, let's look ahead to this week
41:23
Speaker 1: in NCAA Women's hockey and also to really this week
41:26
Speaker 1: in women's hockey because we'll talk a little Pet dub
41:29
Speaker 1: as well. But one of the big series we talked
41:33
Speaker 1: about just briefly earlier in the show coming up this
41:37
Speaker 1: weekend is number four minisode Duluth at number eight, Saint
41:40
Speaker 1: Cloud State teams that are you know, not far away
41:45
Speaker 1: from each other in w H standings. And really when
41:51
Speaker 1: you're looking at Duluth, if they get three points, they
41:54
Speaker 1: are ahead of Ohio State in the standings. As it
41:57
Speaker 1: goes into the winter break, uh, Saint Cloud can hide
42:02
Speaker 1: Duluth at twenty three points with a sweep. So there's
42:05
Speaker 1: you know when you're talking about where this is going
42:07
Speaker 1: to end up and where these teams. You know, last
42:10
Speaker 1: year we're playing for home ice in the playoffs and
42:14
Speaker 1: you know, playing each other in the playoffs, and you know,
42:16
Speaker 1: I think it was the final weekend or one of
42:18
Speaker 1: the final weekends they were playing each other to see
42:20
Speaker 1: who would hoist that series if it comes down to that. Again,
42:24
Speaker 1: we're talking about these these games being an awful lot.
42:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, we were talking about Saint Cloud State
42:30
Speaker 2: having that series last weekend that went differently than they
42:33
Speaker 2: want to want. In Minnesota, Duluth we didn't talk about,
42:35
Speaker 2: but had a really convincing weekend series against Vermont, a
42:40
Speaker 2: team that has been struggling, but still Minnesota Duluth you know,
42:43
Speaker 2: went out and put up nine goals. Caitlyn Kramer had
42:45
Speaker 2: her first career hat trick, so you know, they're sort
42:48
Speaker 2: of rioting high. And yeah, I think we you know,
42:51
Speaker 2: if you look at the w CCHA standings there, you know,
42:54
Speaker 2: you see Wisconsin at the top in Ohio state, but
42:56
Speaker 2: that that middle group is is mighty close. And I think,
42:59
Speaker 2: you know, even arguably you're looking at Mankato and Saint
43:02
Speaker 2: Thomas are are not, you know, one good weekend away
43:04
Speaker 2: from at least pushing back at Saint Cloud. So these
43:07
Speaker 2: are these are must win games for both of those
43:09
Speaker 2: teams as far as I'm concerned, just in terms of
43:11
Speaker 2: holding steady and keeping their trajectory and also being in
43:15
Speaker 2: a good place heading into the winter break. Right.
43:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's in the w c AHA. You've got Wisconsin
43:22
Speaker 1: and then you've got a gap, and then you've got
43:24
Speaker 1: a bunch of teams that are kind of bunched together there.
43:29
Speaker 1: It's gonna be fascinating and we see how that shakes out.
43:32
Speaker 1: I won't be completely surprised if it ends up being
43:37
Speaker 1: a little bit like we've seen in the past, where
43:39
Speaker 1: it's either Wisconsin or House stated one in two Minnesota, Minnesota,
43:44
Speaker 1: Saint Cloud. I won't be surprised for it that way,
43:46
Speaker 1: but I think there's a chance that it gets shaken
43:48
Speaker 1: up this year.
43:50
Speaker 2: I mean, Team Chaos always wants that, and yeah, I
43:53
Speaker 2: mean I think it's it's great for the conference, it's
43:55
Speaker 2: great for fans, it's great for for hockey. Like these
43:58
Speaker 2: these teams, like it's all so cyclical. We've talked about,
44:01
Speaker 2: like with recruiting and all that sort of stuff. So
44:03
Speaker 2: so some of these teams, they're not going to break
44:05
Speaker 2: through if they aren't getting some of those wins. And
44:07
Speaker 2: so you know, that's like where Saint Cloud wants to be.
44:09
Speaker 2: And they've shown that they're capable of beating some of
44:12
Speaker 2: the teams and pushing up against the teams at the
44:15
Speaker 2: top of the conference. And you know, this is a
44:17
Speaker 2: really got opportunity for them to to you know, gain
44:23
Speaker 2: some ground. And we also, like we saw was that
44:26
Speaker 2: two weeks ago that when Saint Cloud and Minnesota had
44:29
Speaker 2: the home and home Saint Cloud dominated on their home ice.
44:33
Speaker 2: Like we sometimes I think we talk way too much
44:35
Speaker 2: about the size of the larger ice sheet there. And
44:38
Speaker 2: then I turned around and watch Saint Cloud like really
44:40
Speaker 2: use that and and make have it make a difference
44:42
Speaker 2: for them. And so I think it also makes a
44:44
Speaker 2: difference then that that this is a game happening at
44:46
Speaker 2: Saint Cloud's or weekend happening at Saint Cloud State, and
44:49
Speaker 2: just the way that they use that ice. But I
44:52
Speaker 2: also think that, like as Kreitl Graymer gets used to
44:54
Speaker 2: to that she's going to be really dangerous there. She's
44:57
Speaker 2: just such a creative player. Yeah, I you know, it's
45:01
Speaker 2: going to be about how the goalies play it. And
45:02
Speaker 2: these are you know, teams with some of the best
45:04
Speaker 2: goalies in the conference and so, but they're both young,
45:08
Speaker 2: and yeah, I have no idea I will be surprised
45:11
Speaker 2: by no outcome in this like if they tie, if
45:14
Speaker 2: they split, if one wins, if one sweeps off the
45:16
Speaker 2: other sweeps. I think like both teams are capable of
45:19
Speaker 2: all of those things, and so that's what makes it
45:21
Speaker 2: a worthwhile series to watch as far as I'm concerned,
45:24
Speaker 2: because I don't think the outcome is at all one
45:28
Speaker 2: you can guess.
45:29
Speaker 1: Right also in the this week another there is that
45:33
Speaker 1: has a little bit more intrigue, I guess now after
45:36
Speaker 1: seeing what happened last weekend with Saint Thomas and the
45:40
Speaker 1: Tommy's hosting Minnesota for two games, even I think there's
45:43
Speaker 1: a usually home and home series when they played Consitting
45:45
Speaker 1: there what seven miles apart or something like that, But
45:48
Speaker 1: it looks like on our schedule anyway, we have Saint
45:50
Speaker 1: Thomas hosting both of them. So Saint Thomas didn't get
45:54
Speaker 1: a win last weekend, but still kind of felt like
45:58
Speaker 1: there was some winning happening in Nashville with the as
46:03
Speaker 1: we talked about before taking Clarks into the very last
46:06
Speaker 1: second and a half of overtime before falling in the
46:10
Speaker 1: semi final of that tournament, and then going to overtime
46:14
Speaker 1: in a shootout with Penn State in the third place game.
46:21
Speaker 1: Now you bring that home and you have to play
46:23
Speaker 1: Minnesota and so that the stretch of tough opponents doesn't
46:28
Speaker 1: get any easier for them, and I think Minnesota will
46:32
Speaker 1: be more than happy to to, you know, get back
46:36
Speaker 1: on the ice.
46:37
Speaker 2: And the San Gophers are coming off a bye weekend as.
46:40
Speaker 1: Well, show that they've you know, the cross town even
46:44
Speaker 1: though it's the same town cross Twin Cities area rivalry
46:47
Speaker 1: is still on their side.
46:49
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, I mean I do think that, you know,
46:51
Speaker 2: you have to assume that the Gophers are the favorites here,
46:54
Speaker 2: but like you said, I just think it gets slightly
46:56
Speaker 2: more intriguing now after what Saint Thomas showed last week,
46:59
Speaker 2: and I just think the again it's it's going to
47:02
Speaker 2: be goaltending. But you know, Danny Stram has been so
47:04
Speaker 2: strong for them, and I do think that, like, you know,
47:07
Speaker 2: it's really unfortunate what they've gone through, but it does
47:09
Speaker 2: seem to have really like made the team very cohesive,
47:13
Speaker 2: and I, yeah, I don't I'm not sure it's just
47:17
Speaker 2: as much of a given. We've seen Minnesota, you know,
47:19
Speaker 2: drop points that we didn't maybe didn't expect them to drop.
47:22
Speaker 2: We've seen Saint Thomas pull points off Ohio State, so
47:24
Speaker 2: if that those were games at home as well, And
47:27
Speaker 2: so I just think, knowing having seen over the last
47:30
Speaker 2: month what Saint Thomas is capable of, this definitely has
47:33
Speaker 2: to be more of a concern from the Gophers than
47:36
Speaker 2: maybe it would have been in different situation.
47:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, in the Atlanta Cocky America Conference, we have Penn State,
47:45
Speaker 1: which we had mentioned before, having a rough weekend last
47:49
Speaker 1: weekend in Nashville named Rebound, playing at Mercyhurst. That's a
47:53
Speaker 1: matchup of the top two teams in AHA and Penn State.
47:58
Speaker 1: Really you know, has a four point lead on Mercy here,
48:01
Speaker 1: so it has a little bit of a cushion, but
48:02
Speaker 1: that could be gone quickly if they're not able to
48:05
Speaker 1: rebound this weekend and get some get some results at
48:10
Speaker 1: at Mercy Hears.
48:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, and Mercy Hurst had Upstate New York had a
48:15
Speaker 2: rough weekend weatherwise, and they were meant to play Ohio
48:18
Speaker 2: State and those games got or that team got postponed
48:21
Speaker 2: because of that. So you know, there they've had a
48:25
Speaker 2: nice long rest and we're preparing for a you know,
48:29
Speaker 2: a fast paced, you know, quick game, and so the
48:33
Speaker 2: way that that might help them here could be interesting.
48:36
Speaker 2: Penn State obviously you had to travel down to Nashville,
48:38
Speaker 2: and then now they're traveling to Mercy Hurst, and Penn
48:41
Speaker 2: State having been able to I'm sorry, Merciers, having been
48:45
Speaker 2: able to stay home and not have that extra game,
48:47
Speaker 2: but have been prepared for an apponement that is tougher
48:50
Speaker 2: than Penn State might really work out for them and
48:52
Speaker 2: this weekend. So, you know, I think Mercyhurst is one
48:55
Speaker 2: of those teams that's kind of just just on the edge, right,
48:58
Speaker 2: Like they've just shown flashes of being really capable of
49:02
Speaker 2: doing some great stuff. There's seven night and one right now.
49:05
Speaker 2: But we've talked about they've got some really great international
49:08
Speaker 2: talent and I just think they're a team that is
49:10
Speaker 2: going to continue to get better. And so yeah, that
49:13
Speaker 2: that what makes that an intriguing series to me.
49:16
Speaker 1: I hope we didn't jinx that series, the Penn State
49:19
Speaker 1: Wars series series, because the area is supposed to get
49:21
Speaker 1: another couple of feet of snow this week.
49:23
Speaker 2: Almost a joke about like is it going to happen?
49:25
Speaker 1: I didn't check your local listings on that one to
49:29
Speaker 1: make sure that that series actually.
49:32
Speaker 2: Are upstate New York. Those ones will actually get rescheduled.
49:38
Speaker 1: You would have to, Yeah, they would have to reschedule
49:40
Speaker 1: at some point unless there's just no way of doing it.
49:43
Speaker 1: And then you're talking about what we were doing in
49:45
Speaker 1: the COVID seasons of But hopefully hopefully everything's okay there
49:52
Speaker 1: and uh, Penn State's able to get there and get
49:54
Speaker 1: a couple of good games in there. We'd mentioned this earlier,
49:58
Speaker 1: Quinn't Pak number nine playing at Princeton on Saturday. Again,
50:03
Speaker 1: it's it's a you know, ECAC important point, ECAC point
50:10
Speaker 1: game for both of those teams, depending on kind of
50:15
Speaker 1: where they are in their individual places in the standings,
50:18
Speaker 1: whether you're kind of in the middle or in the
50:19
Speaker 1: upper reaches, there trying to be there. And I just
50:24
Speaker 1: think that this is, like, like I think you mentioned before,
50:28
Speaker 1: a test of whether Princeton's scoring can continue against a
50:32
Speaker 1: really good defense.
50:35
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, Quinnipiack is a great defensive team anyway, Like
50:39
Speaker 2: as we mentioned, Killy Doyle is just I mean, like
50:41
Speaker 2: she's probably my front front runner for goalie of the
50:44
Speaker 2: Year at the moment, used to facing a ton of shots,
50:47
Speaker 2: and so yeah, I just think this is sort of
50:49
Speaker 2: like a really great offense and a really great defense,
50:52
Speaker 2: you know, sort of hitting each other and we'll see
50:55
Speaker 2: which way, you know, who's gonna win that push pull.
50:57
Speaker 2: And that's not to discount Quinnipiack's offense as well, Like
51:00
Speaker 2: they've got some really great gold Sports may Labad has
51:02
Speaker 2: been exceptional this year, really stepped into a bigger role
51:09
Speaker 2: after the graduation and transfer of some players. So it's
51:12
Speaker 2: not as though Quinnipiac will also be pushing on offense.
51:14
Speaker 2: But I think based on what we've seen from Renston's
51:18
Speaker 2: offense the past couple of weeks that it's it's going
51:20
Speaker 2: to be the defense for for Quinnipiac in the offense
51:23
Speaker 2: for Princeton, and how Quinnipiac can keep them from you know,
51:25
Speaker 2: getting set up and holding possession too long, things like that.
51:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, one thing we want to mention. We may talk
51:33
Speaker 1: about this more next week and our final show before
51:36
Speaker 1: the break, but the sixth Nation Tournament happening in Finland
51:39
Speaker 1: starts on the eleventh. Correct. I believe that said earlier
51:44
Speaker 1: and I didn't write it down. That's my mistake. In Finland,
51:48
Speaker 1: just tons of NCAA players going to that, which makes
51:56
Speaker 1: winter break a little shorter for some of them and
51:58
Speaker 1: adds some travel and thing like that. But I would
52:01
Speaker 1: I would imagine that's a pretty quick yes to when
52:04
Speaker 1: your country says, hey, we want you to play in
52:06
Speaker 1: a tournament, doesn't matter that it's taking up winter breaker,
52:10
Speaker 1: having to reschedule final exams or those kind of things.
52:13
Speaker 1: That's uh, that's a pretty quick yeah.
52:16
Speaker 2: Well, yes, particularly and we talked a little bit about
52:18
Speaker 2: this because of the when the US roster was but
52:20
Speaker 2: this is for both For many of these players, they're
52:24
Speaker 2: they're not regular senior camp attendees. I mean there are some,
52:27
Speaker 2: but for many of them, like this is their opportunity
52:29
Speaker 2: to really shine and prove that they should be getting
52:31
Speaker 2: invited to camp and should be in consideration. And so
52:35
Speaker 2: you're talking about sort of like that that cusp group
52:37
Speaker 2: of players because there are so many women that can
52:39
Speaker 2: make the national team. So I think even more so
52:43
Speaker 2: than normal, like getting this opportunity and getting this call
52:46
Speaker 2: is about like really showing up and showing out and
52:49
Speaker 2: proving that you know, you've improved in collegiate since you
52:52
Speaker 2: were you eighteen and in the system those sorts of things,
52:55
Speaker 2: and really earning your place and getting that call into
52:58
Speaker 2: camp where you can earn your way into the the
53:00
Speaker 2: senior team roster. So that I think is the big
53:04
Speaker 2: thing here. We do know that like you know, KK, Harvey,
53:07
Speaker 2: Leyla Edwards, Agency Dunn, some of those players that are
53:10
Speaker 2: regular senior team players are also going to be there.
53:12
Speaker 2: But I think across the board we're seeing there were
53:16
Speaker 2: several collegiate players NCAA players that were named to the
53:19
Speaker 2: Finland roster. I saw Chechia just announced a bunch of
53:22
Speaker 2: changes because some of the players that won't be able
53:24
Speaker 2: to leave the p ub that made rosters. So yeah,
53:27
Speaker 2: just more and more collegians not just from US and Canada,
53:30
Speaker 2: but across the board being added to the rosters, and so,
53:36
Speaker 2: as we've said in the past, those games, as far
53:37
Speaker 2: as I understand when I was told by someone from
53:39
Speaker 2: USA Hockey is that it's going to be streamed in
53:42
Speaker 2: Finland and you need a VPN to watch. So as
53:45
Speaker 2: soon as I hear anything more, if I ever find
53:47
Speaker 2: a feed, I will be sharing those on social media.
53:50
Speaker 2: But yeah, hopefully, hopefully we get to watch some of
53:52
Speaker 2: those because it's a unique group of players playing each other,
53:56
Speaker 2: and I'm sad we don't know for sure whether or
53:58
Speaker 2: not we're you.
53:59
Speaker 1: Get to watch them, right, And the p WHL is
54:02
Speaker 1: entering into its second week of the season, after starting
54:06
Speaker 1: last Saturday with a couple of games and then another
54:08
Speaker 1: one on Sunday to get all six teams going for
54:11
Speaker 1: the season. What what did what did you I guess
54:18
Speaker 1: what did we learned from the first weekend of p
54:20
Speaker 1: WHL season two?
54:23
Speaker 2: Did you know Sarah Philly is really good at hockey?
54:27
Speaker 2: Heard Alex Kurpeter Yether is going to be something to watch.
54:31
Speaker 2: I know that Carpi already scored again tonight. She's on
54:34
Speaker 2: pace to have one of those crazy seasons like she
54:36
Speaker 2: did when she won the Patty and just you know,
54:39
Speaker 2: outscored everybody in the country by like a couple dozen points.
54:43
Speaker 1: But things where you can see how quickly things can
54:46
Speaker 1: turn around for a team with a really good, you know,
54:52
Speaker 1: star player added to a group that I already had
54:56
Speaker 1: some star players.
54:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, but just wasn't congealing the same way, right, Like, yeah, and.
55:00
Speaker 1: We're two games, let's not get too far sure, but
55:04
Speaker 1: so the.
55:04
Speaker 2: Way these two have connected in just like a game
55:07
Speaker 2: and a half has been has been unreal. No. I
55:11
Speaker 2: think the best thing about it right for me is that, uh,
55:15
Speaker 2: there's games on all the time, and I just want
55:16
Speaker 2: people to be like in the US, these games are
55:18
Speaker 2: on YouTube, so they're very easy to watch. There were
55:22
Speaker 2: two games on at seven Eastern tonight, but there's a
55:25
Speaker 2: game scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday and then next
55:28
Speaker 2: week Tuesday, Wednesday. Oh I'm sorry, No, they have the
55:30
Speaker 2: break for first six nations, but the seventeenth eighteenth, nineteenth, Like,
55:33
Speaker 2: there's just constantly women's hockey on and in the US,
55:36
Speaker 2: at least, it's very easy to watch. In Canada, it
55:39
Speaker 2: is less easy in that you have to subscribe to
55:41
Speaker 2: several things because they're swited between TSN, CBC, and now
55:45
Speaker 2: Amazon Prime. They're also available on ourds, which I am
55:49
Speaker 2: told is the French language version of TSN more or less.
55:54
Speaker 2: But in the US it's very easy to pull up
55:56
Speaker 2: a YouTube link and watch them. So there's that. And
56:00
Speaker 2: understand that most people have access to CBC and TSN
56:02
Speaker 2: in Canada, as I'm told by the Canadians. So yeah,
56:05
Speaker 2: just it's something like ninety percent of those players played
56:09
Speaker 2: in the NCAAA, so it's a ton of people that
56:11
Speaker 2: you're familiar with. We write a lot about this over
56:14
Speaker 2: at Victory Press, so if there's more that you want
56:15
Speaker 2: to know, ahead over there or ask questions and we
56:18
Speaker 2: can write more articles to get people introduced. But yeah,
56:22
Speaker 2: it's the second season and there's there's a lot of
56:24
Speaker 2: really good hockey. We already had some overtime games, we
56:26
Speaker 2: had some you know, late comebacks and surprise upsets, and
56:30
Speaker 2: it's just it's amazing that this is just like I
56:32
Speaker 2: can just pull up at YouTube channel and watch women's
56:34
Speaker 2: pro hockey pretty much every night of the week.
56:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, good hockey to watch there, good hockey to wash
56:39
Speaker 1: an NCAA hockey this weekend, we hope, and we hope
56:41
Speaker 1: you'll be following along, and we'll be back next week
56:43
Speaker 1: to pretty much wrap up the first half of the season.
56:47
Speaker 1: We'll kind of get some perspective on what we've seen
56:50
Speaker 1: and learned and hopefully have some some interesting nuggets to
56:55
Speaker 1: share about what's going on in the first couple of
56:58
Speaker 1: months of the season, and we look forward to talk
57:01
Speaker 1: to you then, So thanks for joining us on the podcast.
57:04
Speaker 1: For Nicole Hasey, I'm Todd Mluski. We will talk to
57:06
Speaker 1: you Max.
57:07
Speaker 2: Please