ASU Women’s Hockey: New season brings positive changes to Sun Devils

(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)

After a sophomore season in which the Arizona State women’s hockey team improved from their inaugural campaign, the team is in the final stretch of preparing for its 2018-19 season, the program’s third on the ice.

ASU won its first game and recorded its first sweep in early 2017, then built on it later that calendar year with road wins, a shutout and in February 2018, a true playoff birth. All of these accomplishments came with rosters no larger than 15 players but in the Sun Devils’ third year, things will be different.

Last year, the Devils played with one goaltender for the entirety of the year. Jordan Nash-Boulden faced exactly 1,000 shots, saving 921 en route to being named the WWCHL’s all-conference goalie. This year, however, she has company in the crease in freshmen Landry Phelps and Macy Eide. For Nash-Boulden, it means fewer reps during practice, but better reps.

“It’s been beneficial,” Nash-Boulden said.” Instead of taking reps to take all the reps, I can now focus on every shot and make it a quality save opportunity. Last year especially with practices before travel, it was difficult because I knew I was going to have to play two, three, maybe four games in a weekend and I knew I couldn’t expend myself as much as I would have liked. It’s been helpful this year that I can work hard every practice and really focus on making the most of it.”

Head coach Lindsey Ellis is excited for the difference three goalies will make, compared to one or two in years past.

“Jordan (Nash-Boulden) did so amazing last year but that’s something that is so hard to put on somebody, that’s a lot of games and a lot of minutes,” Ellis said. “Especially on the weekends where we have four games, it’ll be good to have different goaltenders in there and be able to have them play to their full potential instead of conserving energy here or there.

Not only does ASU have three netminders, but it will also skate 18 players, nearly double what the Sun Devils had for parts of last season. After skating 12 players in the 2016-17 campaign, injuries forced the team to hover between 10 and 12 in the 2017-18 season, barely giving them enough for two lines.

Returning to the roster this season are defensemen Madison Quinonez and Alisa Manny. Both played on the program’s inaugural team, but were not on the active roster last season, adding increased excitement for the season ahead.

“It feels good to put the jersey back on, I’ve been waiting all year for this season,” Quinonez said. “It’s more exciting now that I get to play instead of watch , I just love it so much. I’m so excited.”

Quinonez and Manny represent two of the team’s nine returning players, providing veteran leadership on what is once again an incredibly young team. With both juniors being defensemen, a lack of blue line depth will no longer be a problem.

Now, with six defensemen and 12 forwards, long shifts will be a thing of the past and the team can play with a full bench.

“We have the capacity to run some different drills and get some more girls involved at practice,” Nash-Boulden said. “And obviously fatigue is going to be much more manageable this year than when we have 10 girls.”

Additionally, a 2017-18 season with at times only ten skaters forced some to play out of position. While this helped junior Alyssa Ayers find a new home on defense, it means for sophomore Aubrey Beskid that she gets to return to her natural position of center after spending last year as a wing.

“I’m excited to be playing center again,” Beskid said. “It makes me not only feel better, but more confident in my position, it feels more comfortable and is more enjoyable too.”

The increased roster size, which stands at 21 entering Friday’s season opener at Grand Canyon, has also increased what the team can actually do during practice. Beyond that, the team came to Oceanside Ice Arena twice a week early in the mornings for 90 minute practices the last two years . Now, they’re on the ice for practice three times a week for only an hour each time.

“It really changes the overall momentum of the entire team,” Ellis said. “Last year we had to shove everything into one day. Now we can focus on one thing every single day. There’s more energy and overall momentum for every day rather than shoving so many things into one day.”

“Having more girls creates a better mindset during game week at practice, everyone, especially the freshman are excited to play GCU,” Beskid said. “It is nice to have three practices a week, it means we are seeing each other more and creating more chemistry between all of the girls.”

With a larger roster and more practices comes the need for more coaches as well. With assistant coach Katie McGovern leaving the program to play professional hockey with the Minnesota Whitecaps of the National Women’s Hockey League, Ellis added two coaches to her staff. In addition to Kaley Marino, who has been with the team since day one, former Plymouth State standout Mariah Trupp will join the staff. Former ASU captain and all-time leading point scorer Amber Galles will begin her coaching career as one of three assistant coaches for the team.

“Bringing Amber in, she’s been a member of this team, she knows what our goals are for program and what we want to do,” Ellis said. “As far as Mariah, bringing people in from different programs and different experiences to the coaching staff is always a good thing. To be able to bring in different successful pieces into ASU is great for the coaching staff.”

While the season’s schedule more road-heavy than last years, the change in schedule and increased roster size will prove important, especially early on, with three weekends in the first six weeks that feature three or more games.

“Overall, culture is better. Everything is honestly just a step up from where it was last year,” Ellis said.” Skill-wise is on a whole other level this year than what it was before. The commitment level, the overall camaraderie within the team.”

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