Sept. 25, 2014 UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
By Tyler Feldman, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - It's been more than six months since the Nittany Lions were on the ice together. 203 days to be exact. But this past Saturday the Penn State women's ice hockey team embarked on its 2014-15 campaign.
The transition from a club team to a Division-I program a mere three seasons ago trickled into last year as the Blue and White finished just 4-29-3. However, as third-year head coach Josh Brandwene and his Nittany Lions enter their third season as a varsity program, the energy in the first week of practice has been very high.
"Things have been really good," said junior captain Shannon Yoxheimer. "The momentum has been at a really, really high pace. It's been really competitive, and it's a really good environment to come to practice to everyday."
Practice has incorporated half-ice and full-ice game situations as well as conditioning drills. From a coaching perspective, the year has gotten off to a progressive start.
"The effort, the intensity, the pace, and the enthusiasm are exactly where we want it right now," said Brandwene. "Lot's of work still to do. Any a number of things to work the kinks out of and clean up, but we're making good progress."
A big reason why practice has started so smoothly is due in large part to the newly appointed leadership. Yoxheimer and fellow junior Jordin Pardoski were voted on by their fellow teammates as the captains this season, while junior Sarah Wilkie and sophomore Laura Bowman both earned assistant captain duties.
"We're all honored that we were voted by the team to be captains, and we hope that we can represent the team well," said Bowman.
And, despite earning team leadership honors, the two captains and assistants plan on acting the same on and off the ice as they have in previous seasons.
"It doesn't really mean anything different than we were last year and in previous seasons," said Pardoski. "It's just us stepping up and being able to be leaders vocally or leading by example."
Although a letter distinctively separates the four captains from the rest of the team, according to Yoxheimer, each player on the squad adds a unique characteristic that makes for a well-rounded group.
"We have a lot of good leaders on the team who aren't captains, too," said Yoxheimer. "It adds to the whole environment of the team. Just having other leaders creates a positive ripple effect with everyone."
Penn State's first game of the season is this upcoming Friday, and due to the lengthy offseason, the Nittany Lions have been anticipating this game for a long time.
"We've been preparing for this since the end of the last season," said Wilkie. "Everyone has been thinking about this day and really focused and excited to get to the game Friday."
Even though the game Friday is simply an exhibition, the competitive ambiance that has overtaken the Nittany Lions has created a game-like mindset for the contest.
"We are not looking at Friday's game as an exhibition game," said Pardoski. "We are acting like Friday's game is our first real game of the season. We're pumped and ready to go for the game."
The puck drops at Pegula Ice Arena at 8:00 p.m. on Friday as the Penn State's season commences against the Western Ontario Mustangs.
"It's so great to be rocking and rolling now," said Brandwene.