(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
The beginning of new programs can be a hit or a miss. Many wonder how successful a program will be in its first few years and down the road into the future, with countless questions that ponder the minds of plenty. For the Arizona State women’s club hockey team, the first season was not the greatest record-wise.
ASU only won two games and lost 15 games in the regular season. For some players and coaches, it can be detrimental to start a program off with only two wins. However, the Sun Devils did not let that stand in their way from accomplishing their goals moving forward.
This season alone, the Devils have already surpassed the number of wins that they had last year, earning themselves three wins and one tie against Grand Canyon.
“Our wins last year were our last two games going out of the regular season, so going into this year and already having three wins and already going over that win record is very exciting for us as a program, but we can’t grow satisfied with only three wins we have to keep moving forward,” said head coach Lindsey Ellis.
The team is hungry for more and should be ready to adapt when playing ranked opponents throughout the season since is is only November.
While wins have seen improvement that is not the only area the team has seen an uptick.
Last season, ASU scored 26 goals during 17 games. This season they have already tallied up 16 goals in six games played, meaning the offense has gotten into a groove and isn’t stopping.
Senior co-captain Amber Galles is one of those players producing the offense that she needs to, so it gives the team a better chance to win. Galles has netted five goals this season and four assists, earning herself a point in every game so far.
“Our offensive has definitely been getting more pucks on the net, we are getting a lot more shots than we did last year which aids in the more goals,” said Galles. “With the strength on the offensive side, I have definitely been able to get more pucks to the net so other girls are able to then rush the puck and we can get all these rebounds in.”
On the other side, ASU gave up 83 goals last season in those 17 games. With only one healthy goalie, Jordan Nash-Boulden, has given up 15 goals in her six games this season, something the team is proud of.
One common denominator for the team was putting in work during the off season. Knowing the practices are not all that one needs to improve, many of the girls worked hard over the offseason, working outside of practices and games.
“I think everyone worked really hard this off season,” said Nash-Boulden. “I think you can really tell that when we came in that everyone was just better then where they ended up last year and our goal scorers are really figuring a lot of things out.”
The players new to the team have also left an everlasting message for the second year of the program.
“The new girls definitely jumped right into it, there didn’t seem like there was much of a transition for them, they kind of clicked very well with our team, so we all play very well together,” said Galles.
One of the new players, a local Phoenix product, Catherine Jones, scored her first goal against Colorado State and has earned herself three assists so far.
The team is only entering the first weekend of November, so the season is still young. There are an abundance of opportunities to continue to surpass what the team did last season, including the number of wins and goals.
There are 17 regular season games remaining for the Sun Devils, including this upcoming weekend’s showcase in Colorado where ASU plays four games in three days.
