(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
Arizona State women’s hockey is having its best season to date. While everyone on the team has contributed to the success, a large portion of the credit falls on the freshmen.
Even though the team has yet to put eight games in the win column like it did last year, the Devils are just two wins away from completing that milestone and on pace to have more than eight this season.
“We wanted to basically double everything of what we did last year and I think we’re definitely well on our way,” head coach Lindsey Ellis said. “Just in terms of wins, we almost have as many as we did last season. It’s just really exciting that we still have half a season left and so many freshmen that are continuing to improve, so it’ll only get better.”
The Sun Devils have tallied in 49 goals already this season, four more than last season in ten fewer games. ASU also has eight more players on its roster, creating a complete 21-player team that is another critical reason the Devils have had such success.
“The full roster trickles down into everything else but overall culture, team play, just everything, in general, is more positive and upbeat,” Ellis said. “Just a lot more of an exciting season to have.”
With 12 freshmen on the team, it is a fairly inexperienced group when it comes to collegiate play, but if you didn’t know they were freshmen one might think they are college veterans.
The freshmen have totaled 31 of the team’s 49 goals this season, led by Katharine Jones’ 10 goals. Jones has had a significant role in the Sun Devils’ offense, leading the squad with 16 points in 14 games and is three goals away from breaking the team record for most goals in a season. She is also just four points away from breaking the total points record – both records held by current assistant coach Amber Galles.
“Coming back from my knee injury, I’ve gotten into better game shape than I had been in,” Jones said, admitting with a laugh she would not have expected to be in a position to break team records.
Beyond Jones, four of the five top scorers on the team are freshmen. ASU’s first line of forwards is made up of freshmen Jones, Danielle Dupont, and Amy Gulliksen. Nearly 35 percent of the team’s total points come from these three, something Ellis did not entirely expect.
“Not exactly,” Ellis said when asked if she expected this level of success from her freshmen. “It’s really exciting this year to have not only forwards be leading scorers but freshmen as well. Since they are getting better, it’ll be really great to see what they’re like as juniors or seniors.”
Gulliksen, an Illinois native, played hockey for the Chicago Fury back in her hometown. Now, she is experiencing a team she hasn’t before, with a mixture of teammates from all over the country.
“This team is like a dream,” Gulliksen said. “We’re all family, we’re all friends. If there’s a problem, it goes away super quick. I’ve had teams who don’t get along and there’s no chemistry. This team is not like that. Everyone wants everyone to succeed.”
For the players that have been a part of this Devils team since the start of the program, they have full belief that this freshmen class will provide a successful future for Sun Devil women’s hockey.
“It’s certainly a different situation than we’ve been in before, especially last year where we graduated most of our girls that were top scorers,” junior goaltender Jordan Nash-Boulden said. “This year, to be able to see the freshmen stepping up and contributing and they’re always learning and always getting better. There’s really nowhere to go but up from here.”
With only a handful of upperclassmen rostered on the team, they have provided constant support and advice to the freshmen who are still settling into a college atmosphere, an influence that has had even more of an impact off the ice than on.
“Your first semester especially, but your first year as a whole, you’re learning the ropes and learning how to balance hockey and class and a life,” Nash-Boulden said. “It’s been a combined effort and I think they are really starting to figure out where they fit here.”
With the holidays around the corner, some of the upperclassmen are showing how much of a family this team really is.
“[The upperclassmen] bring us in and treat us like family,” said Gulliksen. “They’re offering us to come over for Thanksgiving, which is nice. They’ve really brought us in and we’re all pretty much a family.”
This family will be conclude the season by facing Grand Canyon University four times and the University of Minnesota in a two-game series, giving them a very real chance of winning more than eight games this season. Beyond the season, the program is in good hands for years to come.
“Seeing [us] succeed makes me happy because when [we] succeed, the program succeeds,” Jones said.
