Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Digg
Tell us what you think!Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.
After having last weekend off, the University of Maine women’s hockey team returns to action this weekend with an explosive match against nationally ranked Brown University. The Black Bears will also host Waterloo and St. Jerome’s University Saturday and Sunday in two exhibition games.
The Black Bears will begin competition on Friday night against the Bears. The match will serve as the home opener for the Black Bears. Brown, currently ranked No. 10 in the country, beat UMaine 1-0 last season.
“We gave them the weekend off considering we have three games and Brown will definitely be our biggest challenge,” said UMaine hockey coach Guy Perron. “It’s our first home game, so there will be a lot of excitement. So far what we have done is we have worked on a few things and hopefully we can use that against them.”
After the team drops the puck with Brown, they will continue their nine-game homestand, with an exhibition game series against Waterloo, Ontario-based St. Jerome’s University.
During Monday’s practice, the team worked on taking shots from different angles and screening the goalies in hopes that it would prepare Rachel Gettings and Jayme Wilmann for the weekend. According to Perron, having the weekend off was crucial so when the team continued training, they could focus on passing and shooting, as well as staying within their system.
“This week is a pretty big game for us and probably one of the bigger games of the year,” said senior forward Tristan Desmet. “It’s something we have been preparing for since last season and during the summer into this year, and if we have a good attitude out there, we are going to be all right.
UMaine’s last game was a 2-2 tie against the University of Vermont on Oct. 16. The contest saw the Black Bears come from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game in the final three minutes. Their first game against the Catamounts was a 2-0 win, which saw Gettings, a sophomore, pick up her first career win in a UMaine uniform as she stopped 17 shots.
Outside of picking up three points, the Black Bears were able to pick up a few awards when Gettings was named the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week. Along with Gettings, Sonia Corriveau and Julie Poulin were named to the conference honor roll.
“It was a great experience with it being my first game, and I was nervous but my team played well in front of me and I felt comfortable,” Gettings said. “It’s great to see our team get noticed right off the bat and it’s nothing but good things for us.”
One aspect that made Gettings’ life in the crease easier this season was the fact that the Black Bears returned all seven defenders from last season. The Black Bears currently own the top goals against average in the conference.
“As for this week, we have been stressing work on our zone and have had also had some forwards come back and help us this year,” said junior defender Morgan Janusc. “I think everyone was stressing the goaltender issue, and regardless of that, the thing is, we were going to play tight defense all the time.”
