After coming back together post Christmas break, we were all thrilled to see each other and get started in practice to prepare for the equally important, second half of the season. Most of us were still exhausted from flying. We took it slightly easy in practice last week getting back in the swing of things but we still managed to keep the competition alive. Around the house it was pretty loud, and even though everyone was tired, you could tell that we were so happy to come back together as a team. This chemistry and happiness makes for the best hockey experience, which hopefully we will be able to translate into victory on the ice.
College St. Laurent, Montreal
Last weekend we had two games against St. Laurent. Our first game was Friday night which we played at their home rink in Montreal, Canada. We could’ve hit the ice harder to start the first period; they ended up scoring the first goal on us to light up the score board. This kicked us into gear and we began to play harder individually and smarter as a team. We scored our first goal soon after theirs and continued to put the puck in the net. Somewhere within the second period, we collapsed defensively, lets say we had a small hiccup, and taking advantage of this they scored their second goal. We kept at it though, and soon we were playing as a tightly knitted team. The game ended as a 7-2 win. We returned back to NAHA at about 11:30 that night and while some of us went straight to bed, others socialized for a time and then went to sleep.
Yay! Time to rest. Saturday was a day off, and we were able to sleep in. Most of us got up around eleven or twelve, leisurely crawling out of bed to get breakfast. We did our own thing most of the day, and while some did homework in the warm fortress of NAHA, others decided to head up to the Jay arcade for some gaming fun. We took advantage of this day off and although some may think that we love to be out and about on our off days, that’s not quite our idea of how to spend them. We are busy people and our schedules don’t allow much true leisure time. Between academics, athletics, and the controlled chaos that is the NAHA house there is precious little downtime available. We love SLEEP.
Sunday morning we were able to sleep in again, and we all woke around 10:30 for brunch at NAHA. We ate and got our stuff ready for another day trip to Montreal, Canada. We arrived, a little tired from the late wakeup, but still ready to play. Our off ice warm-up was great as always, but when we stepped on the ice for warm-up we looked and felt tired and disconnected. After regrouping in the locker room, we came out fast and after our first goal, we came together, putting five more pucks in the net with Bailey Wright and Dylanne Crugnale both scoring two. Molly Doner tipped in a beautiful shot assisted by Jenny Ryan with .9 seconds remaining in the game to make the score 6-0, us. Another weekend, another win, and were back on the road home feeling fine.
