(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
When the clock hit triple zeros Saturday morning in Fremont, Nebraska, the 2017-18 season for the Arizona State women’s hockey team had officially come to an end.
It also meant that the four captains of the team had skated in their final game ever wearing a sweater representing ASU.
When the women’s hockey team competed in its first ever season in 2016, the team went on to win only two games: a sweep of Denver on ASU’s home ice.
Just one year later, the Devils found themselves accomplishing a series of program firsts.
They recorded a 3-1-1 series victory in its first ever season series against Grand Canyon and the team accomplished its first shutout in program history against GCU.
The Devils also won four times as many games as their inaugural season, all the while earning the program’s first ever bid to the WWCHL Playoffs as the No. 15 ranked team in the nation.
The Sun Devils accomplished all of this while being short benched the entire season.
“For such a small roster and being ranked with these skilled teams… that’s just amazing that we are up there with the top dogs,” alternate captain Dannika Borges said.
Sophomore Megan Mroczek echoed similar praise.
“It just shows that you don’t need to have a huge team to play competitively if you have a ton of heart,” she said.
For the current seniors, this season acted as their swan song as the first graduating class from the program.
In the closing moments of ASU’s final game against Midland, all four of the seniors came onto the ice to complete their final shifts as Sun Devils.
Senior captain KC McGinley reflected upon the emotions of the final shift of her career,
“[We were] just trying to enjoy every second of it,” McGinley said. “At the end of the day we were just trying to give it everything.”
As the seniors move on and make way for the returning players and incoming freshman, the Sun Devils will look into the senior leadership to cement chemistry in the new feel ASU hockey team.
“I’m hoping someone takes up my passion,” Borges said. “When I’m yelling [at teammates] it’s because I know [they] can do well.”
Assistant Coach Katie McGovern was grateful for the seniors’ commitment to the team.
“We’re sad to see them go, but they set the foundation for our program,” McGovern said. “We’re so proud of them … and they were great leaders for all of us.”
Having accomplished a program and season goal this year, the team knows that they can do more.
“Before it was, ‘We want to go to playoffs,’ and being hopeful we’ll make playoffs,” Mroczek said. “Now it’s not hopeful anymore because we’ve done it. We know it’s possible.”
ASU anticipates a full recruiting class for the 2018-19 season, as the team will look to compete with full lines for the first time in program history.
On top of being the program’s largest recruiting class, the incoming freshman can expect to play in a new arena in their junior year as Sun Devils, as plans for a new 5,000 seat arena were announced in late January and approved in early February.
The Sun Devils will get six months to prepare for the next season, where they will look to build upon the foundations set by the seniors and returning players.
