2001-02 Women's Hockey Outlook
October 11, 2001 | Women's Hockey
Oct. 11, 2001
16 is the magic number for the Boston College Women's Ice Hockey team. The Eagles return that many players from last year's squad. There are few teams in the league that return such a large core of players. 16 players who all have game experience, nine which played in all 32 games last season. Last season's Eagles finished the season with a 6-26 overall record. With the number of experienced players that are returning for the Eagles this season, head coach Tom Babson believes that this year's team will be much improved. The Eagles add several newcomers to the squad this season to add depth to the current veterans.
"With the addition of the new freshmen to the veterans, it's purely numbers, we're going to be a lot deeper," said Babson. "That's the problem we had last year and the past few years. We had injuries and we couldn't even scrimmage.
Experience in key areas may make the difference in pushing the Eagles past close losses like the ones to New Hampshire (4-3), Providence (4-3), Wisconsin (5-3), and Cornell (5-3) last season. With the maturity of last year's underclassmen, coach Babson hopes to turn those close losses into wins.
"In Division-I hockey, it really takes that first year for the girls to learn to play Division-I hockey," said Babson, who enters his third season as head coach of the Eagles. "Even the bests kids have to make that transition. All of the freshmen that we brought in last year will have had that year to mature and I really think that they're going to contribute to the team. We only lost three seniors, but it's tough to lose a Jen Buckley, who's done so much for us in the four years that she was here. But, the five major freshmen that we're bringing in should do a terrific job in filling out the holes we have from graduation. It will make practice that much more intense and have a much higher tempo. You play only as well as you practice, and, with the five top freshmen that we're bringing in, plus some of the other newcomers, it really should make practice a much more positive experience for the whole team."
FORWARDS
Coach Babson returns a group of talented forwards to this year's squad highlighted by senior Kelly McManus, last years top scorer. McManus compiled 22 points last season on 13 goals and nine assists, while playing in all 32 games. She also led the Eagles in game-winning goals with three. McManus will be looked upon to provide veteran leadership for the Eagles' younger players.
"Kelly McManus is the offensive heart of our team, there's no question about it," said Babson. "Kelly has a lot of experience, she's "been there and done that" both at the national level, at UNH, and then here last year. She's one of our assistant captains and she is going to show leadership on and off the ice. She works very hard in practice and practices at a very high level. So she is going to set our standard for forwards on the ice. We've tried to bring in some players who know how to play the passing game that she's so good at."
Fellow returnees Renee Taylor, Missy Barsz, and Alaina Clark will also be relied upon to provide offensive punch to the Eagles' front lines.
Last season as a freshman, Taylor had 12 points on six goals and six assists, tying her for third highest on the team in points. Taylor proved to be a durable forward for the Eagles, missing only one game.
"Renee Taylor is going to be more successful," said the coach. "She was a freshman last year and she was counted on a lot. This year, she has that experience, she knows she can do it, so she should step right up." this season.
Barsz, a senior, enters this season as a viable offensive weapon for the Eagles, ending last season tied for third in points with Taylor with 12, also on six goals and six assists.
"Missy is a good, solid, along-the- boards player," said her coach. "She's our captain and our spiritual leader. The kids really respect her and know how hard she works."
Clark begins her sophomore year at BC having totaled ten points for the Eagles last season. As a freshman, her eight assists were second to only McManus' nine for the Eagles last season. "It was amazing to see how well last year's freshmen came on at the end of the season after they got a feel for D-I hockey," Babson reiterated. " They just started playing great hockey towards the end."
DEFENSE
The Eagles defense is bolstered with experienced, junior blue liners led by Gen Richardson. The team's top scoring defenseman last season totaled three goals and eight assists for 11 points. Since she came to Boston College as a freshman, Richardson has played in all 62 games for the Eagles. Through her first two years at Boston College, Richardson has proven to be a key defensive player, but also a legitimate offensive threat for the Eagles. Richardson has been a consistent points leader, with 11 points in each of her first two seasons.
"Evaluations out of the National Camp in Lake Placid, NY indicated that Gen Richardson really belonged up there, she had a great showing.
Accompanying Richardson will be red-shirt freshman Jessica Tychsen, a strong defenseman who missed last year because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Despite her absence last season, coach Babson believes that Tychsen has the ability to be a top-notch player in this league. Also joining her will be freshman Sarah Carlson.
"We're bringing in a redshirt defenseman who is a terrific defenseman in Jessica Tychsen, and one of the top rated defenseman from Lake Placid in Sarah Carlson, so there's two good defensemen to come in," said Babson. "They're highly rated and should step right in and play. Tychsen and Carlson have to step right in and play well for us to be successful. I know they have the ability to play well. It's not a question of if they're going to play, I'm counting on them to play."
Adding depth to the Eagles' blue line will be junior Sarah Engwall. Engwall played in all 32 games for the Eagles last season and that experience will hopefully translate into improved play this season.
"We'll probably match Richardson with one of the really good young kids, maybe Tychsen, and probably put Engwall with Carlson, and that's two good sets of defensemen in anybody's league."
GOALTENDING
Coach Babson's Eagles return two goalies this season, Junior Amy Coletta and Senior Sharon Van Tuyl, both have game experience. Coletta and Van Tuyl platooned last season between the pipes for the Eagles. In 18 starts as the Eagles goaltender, Coletta made 516 saves, giving her 543 for her career.
"You build a team from the goalie out," said Babson. "We have two senior goalies, and we brought in another goalie, who is one of the top kids in the country. She's been to the National Camp in Lake Placid for a number of years and judging by all the national goalie coaches, they have evaluated Lisa Davis as one of the top prospects in the country.
"Our two senior goalies are good experience goalies. There's going to be much more competition for the top spot and we expect the top goalie to really come in and compete for the top job. There isn't a clear cut starter at goalie, but we expect Davis to come in and really compete for the starting spot."
Coletta had two shutouts on the season, making 21 saves in a 2-0 victory against Yale on November 11, and stopping all 43 shots against Mercyhurst in a 1-0 win on January 20. As a tandem, Coletta and Van Tuyl combined for one shutout on December 29 as they blanked the University of Vermont on December 29th.
Van Tuyl ranks third on the Eagles career saves list with 1,118, trailing Kristin Gray for second place by only 118 saves. Last season, Van Tuyl posted a .864 saves percentage in her 14 starts as Eagles netminder.
"So now we have four top defensemen and a very good goalie so that's going to be the difference this year," said Babson. "Because where we fell down last year was goals against. That's the thing that we almost need to cut in half, and that's the way you do it. I think we're going to be a lot tougher in the third period with what we have."
Babson looks forward to the upcoming season and feels his team has a chance to move up to the next level.
"Our goals are to cut down our goals against average and we have added a lot more depth. The first year I was hear we had four kids go to Lake Placid, last year we had eight, and this year we have 12, that's obviously moving in the right direction. We have 12 kids who have played at the highest level for their age group. So we have more depth than we have ever had on any team at Boston College. We just have to learn to play together and to maximize the talent that our kids have. The freshmen and sophomores have to step up and play great hockey.
"With the league changing the way it is, we've got to step up and play the new teams, like UConn and Quinnipiac, we've got to play them tough. Then we need to jump on some of the teams that may not have the talent that they have in the past few years. We have a chance to really win some games. We're not just working to get into the playoffs, but we're aiming for a good spot in the playoffs. If we could play a fourth seed, then we feel we have a good chance to go the second round and then anything can happen. We have a chance this year to really make something happen, we can really knock some people off. We have depth this year and we have true hockey players, so we feel we're moving in the right direction and have an opportunity this year to be successful."
