(Photo: Ellie Simpson/WCSN)
On Friday, the Arizona State women’s club hockey team will be starting its second season in the women’s Division I American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA). The Sun Devils have added four new faces to the squad to help muster up their offense.
Freshmen Aubrey Beskid, Jessica Ferrigno, Catherine Jones and sophomore Alyssa Ayers are all talent that will help the team thrive this season.
Growing up in Pennsylvania, Beskid went to Hershey Bears games and her dad suggested that she play hockey, so she gave the sport a try, as she had been skating since she was five years old.
Transitioning can be difficult for players entering a new team, but that hasn’t been the case for any of girls.
“The transition has been great everyone is really nice and helpful and makes sure you feel like you belong,” Beskid said.
Head coach Lindsey Ellis is also pleased with how the transition has been.
“I think it’s already going very well,” Ellis commented. “Last year was a little different starting from scratch, so coming into this year and having them mesh so well, is going really well.”
Ferrigno, student at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, had strong feelings about transitioning onto the team.
“I have never felt more welcome on a team before in my life,” Ferrigno said. “I just met these girls and I love them, so I am fitting in really well.”
The freshman from Monroe, Connecticut came in and quickly got involved in the school. She is already writing for The State Press, a student media outlet on campus.
Even though Ferrigno is a Connecticut native, her family has had a vacation home in Buckeye and has traveled to Arizona every year since she was eight.
“I have known that I love this state and I love the weather, I love the energy of the people around me,” Ferrigno said.
She found out about the Cronkite School and came to conclusion that she was going to Arizona State. Finding out about the women’s hockey team was a “dream come true.”
Both Ferrigno and Beskid previously have had leadership positions on their hockey teams.
“Some roles I can bring is just being strong and staying positive throughout the game and making sure everyone is trying as hard as they can,” said Beskid, an assistant captain on her previous team, the U19 Hershey Jr. Bears.
Out of the four new faces, there is only one player who is an Arizona native.
Jones, previously played hockey at Horizon High School and was the only girl on the team.
“You have to use your stick more instead of using your body, but they are pretty similar,” said Jones when asked about the differences playing with boys versus girls.
When Jones was five, her grandma placed her into hockey following the footsteps of her father who also played hockey.
The final forward that was added to the team this year is lone sophomore newcomer, Alyssa Ayers
Ayers originally left her small town in Michigan last year to come to Arizona State University to experience something new.
“I took two years off and then I saw they started the girls team last year, so it was the perfect time to go back right now,” Ayers said.
Even though she took two years off from hockey she is prepared and ready to play in her first game back. Ayers felt like getting back into the swing of things would be more difficult. Right now, she is working on her endurance.
Not only is she excited to get back into the game, her family is too, who will be in town this weekend to watch ASU’s series against Grand Canyon.
“We mesh really well, a lot of us have played together before so we already love each other a lot,” said senior defenseman KC McGinley. “The new girls are great, we are trying to make it fun and comfortable for them.”
The Sun Devils will play their first game of the season on Friday, September 22 at 7:30 p.m. at Oceanside Ice Arena. History will be made as Arizona State and Grand Canyon begin their first ever women’s ice hockey series against each other.
