Sept. 24, 2015
By Jack Milewski, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" When one season ends, another begins. This is true when the leaves turn from green to yellow and orange, and this is also true for all sports teams. In the case of Penn State women's hockey, the season that most recently ended was the most successful in program history. The team finished with a record 17 wins and made it to semifinals of the CHA playoffs. It was a historic season on the ice for the Nittany Lions, but it was also a historic season off the ice for the team as well.
High Scoring in the Classroom
As much as the Nittany Lions women's hockey team prides themselves in excellence on the ice, their off ice accomplishments are equally impressive. During the fall semester of 2014, the team posted a cumulative 3.36 grade point average (GPA) while 11 of the players made the Dean's List. In the spring semester, both of those numbers grew as the team raised its GPA to a cumulative 3.42, and 14 players made their way onto the Dean's List.
"We always preach hard work, which leads to success in the classroom," head coach Josh Brandwene said. "It says a ton about the girls work ethic and time management and just their commitment to be successful not just on the ice, but off it as well.
The team finished the season with a 3.35 cumulative GPA a mark that all the players were proud of.
"For everyone on our team, we want to excel on and off the ice and I think coach does a great job at establishing goals and helping us succeed in the classroom," Sarah Nielsen said.
Twenty-two players were recognized on the CHA All-Academic Team. It was the most student athletes to be represented on any team in the conference and Penn State was one of only two teams to have 20 or more selections.
The team embodies the "Penn State Way", according to Brandwene, they put the student part of student athlete first and not only that, but they excel at this.
Summer of Service
Not only does the Penn State women's team display a high level of commitment in the classroom, that commitment also carries over to their service in the community. According to Laura Bowman and Nielsen, the team made it a goal two years to spend time as a group serving the community.
"We made it a goal and focus for us," Bowman said. "We wanted to get out there in the community because not only does it help the community but it also helps us get to know the people in the community and who we're helping and that's nice."
It is very tough for the team to get together as a whole during the offseason and do the community work that they like to do once the school year starts up. However, several Nittany Lions players did some very inspiring work over the summer.
Nielsen Gives Back With Open Arms
Junior Forward Sarah Nielsen is a nutrition major, so the choice to intern with Open Arms - a non-profit organization which makes meals for people with illnesses who could otherwise not afford them - was an easy one. The junior spent her summer near her home in Minnesota, working for the organization.
"The experience I had with Open Arms was definitely a positive one," Nielsen said. "I was pushed outside of my comfort zone, but I was able to gain a lot of benefits from that at the same time."
Growing up, Nielsen's family always tried to give back to the community. Though it wasn't always for non-profit organizations, Nielsen still had the background of community service before she took the internship.
"The atmosphere itself, as far as helping out someone underprivileged was nothing new and it's something I love to do," Nielsen said. "However, the thing that was different for me this time around was doing the work without my parents and that definitely took a little bit of time to get used to."
Nielsen's work with Open Arms is a perfect example of what the Nittany Lion's women's hockey team strives to do in the community and a perfect representation of the character of the squad.
Bowman Battles Bugs With Malaria Research
Junior forward Laura Bowman also spent her time serving the community, but in a much different way. Bowman spent her summer here at Penn State at the Millennium Science Complex doing extensive malaria research. Bowman said that she was working with a specific gene, pushing it from the mosquito to a mouse to see if it affects the malaria life cycle.
"It's a lot of hands work and working with the mice and genetics," Bowman said.
Bowman was here at Penn State for the duration of the summer taking classes, working out for the upcoming hockey season and obviously conducting her research.
"During the summer I put in a lot of hours, probably 20-30 per week," Bowman said. "But obviously with the season coming up and classes I have to cut back so I would say it's only 5-10 hours now."
Bowman says that her decision to research malaria was kind of by choice and kind of by chance. Of the five labs on campus that she interviewed with, the environment she felt most comfortable in was a malaria research lab.
"Scott Litner's lab gave me the best environment," Bowman said. "He was willing to work with me and be very flexible which I needed because of my schedule as an athlete."
Despite the season rolling around soon, Bowman plans to continue her research and hopes to take strides in aiding malaria research.
Laurenzi's Pitbull Passion
Senior forward Emily Laurenzi has a passion for pups. Pitbull's to be specific. Laurenzi has been working and caring for pit bulls since her freshman year of college and her work has been well documented around Penn State and the Big Ten.
"I started liking pit bull's my freshman year," Laurenzi said. "January 2013 I started working at the rescue and I have been doing work their ever since."
Laurenzi adopted her first pit bull, Gracie and shortly after found the rescue she now works at, Response-a-Bull Rescue. When asked why she chose pit bulls as the dog she cares so deeply about, Laurenzi said it's all about how misunderstood they are as a breed.
"No other bread really has the bad name that they do and not many people know the abuse that they go through," Laurenzi said.
Pitbulls get their bad image from bad owners and Laurenzi believes that the media also portrays the breed in a bad light without actually understanding the animal. Laurenzi's work tries to shine a positive light on the animal and multiple teammates have adopted pit bulls since knowing Laurenzi. She also has an Instagram page with over 42,000 followers. The page essentially works as another voice for Laurenzi to spread her passion and understanding for the misunderstood animals.
Laurenzi plans to continue her work with pit bulls after her college day's end and she has a new found interest that she plans to incorporate pit bulls into as well.
"I actually have recently been interested in becoming a police officer," Laurenzi said. "So what I want to do is become a police officer in the K-9 unit and try to bring pit bulls into the police department because it hasn't been done that much."
Laurenzi also plans to open her own shelter at some point after she graduates, but she says that is still a long way away.
Back On The Ice
After a summer of training and giving back to the community, the women's hockey team is primed to hit the ice for its season opening scrimmage.
"We're very excited to get back on the ice," Brandwene said. "The girls have worked very hard in the offseason and I know that we're all excited to start playing again."
The Nittany Lions first scrimmage is slated for a 7 p.m. puck drop against University of Guelph on Thursday. The exhibition matchup will take place at Pegula Ice Arena. The team's first official game is set for Oct. 1 against Big Ten powerhouse, Minnesota.