By Josh Wagner//
The Hood College women’s ice hockey team picked up its first conference win of the season on Nov. 15, powering past Stevenson University 4-1 at Skate Frederick.
Head Coach Josh Funk celebrated the win. “Already this year, in just four games, we’ve faced a lot of different situations — power plays, being shorthanded, adjusting lines, playing up, playing from behind, going into shootouts and going into overtime,” he said. “We’ve pretty much seen it all.”
As of press time, the Blazers are currently 1-1-2. The Blazers have played in two shootouts in four games.
Their win over Stevenson has given them their first win of the season and their first conference win.
“It’s exciting to see that we are learning what it takes to win games,” Funk said. “No matter what the situation is, we can prevail.”
In the game against Stevenson, freshman Emily Cross broke a tie early in the third period with the go-ahead goal, and the Blazers added two late empty netters from sophomore Sofie Ancona to seal the win.
Funk reflected on Cross’ performance: “I’ve been very impressed with her. It just shows she did all the work in the offseason to come prepared and ready to go. She’s extremely coachable and is very eager to learn. That goal was a perfect summary of her season so far. She picked the puck up in our D-zone and had the mentality of I’m going to get this done.”
Cross, in her freshman campaign, has three points in four games.
“Emily has already developed a lot,” Funk said. “During the recruiting process, you’re often recruiting based on potential, and the player Emily came in as this season was not the same player we recruited – in a really good way.”
Sophomore goaltender Maggie Grijalva also had a huge impact on Saturday.
Grijalva had 35 saves with only one goal allowed in the win over Stevenson University.
“I thought she did great,” Funk said. “Yes, she gave up that one goal, and it’s one that she would say that she wants back, but that stuff is going to happen. We always say we have to score one anyway.”
Grijalva rebounded and had a shutout in the second and third periods. “Maggie is what we call a gamer,” Funk said. “She’s a really solid player throughout the week in practice, but when you get into game situations, it’s exciting to see her confidence come out.”
After Grijalva’s performance in the win over Stevenson, she was awarded Blazer of the Week.
As of press time, the Blazers prepare for their next two-game weekend series vs the defending MAC champions, Wilkes University, who went to the national tournament last season and currently hold a 4-1 record to start out the year.
“We can’t be intimidated by who were playing,” Funk said. “We need to trust that if we play are game to the best of our ability, then we are going to have success.”
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