UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -Coming off of a historic win against a top-five ranked opponent, a 4-2 win at No. 5 Colgate on the road, the Penn State women's ice hockey program is in good hands with Kelsey Crow as its leader.
Crow, a senior defenseman, was named captain for the 2018-19 season. The two alternate captains named were junior forward Brooke Madsen and sophomore forward Natalie Heising.
Crow served as an alternate captain for the previous two seasons, and her teammates are ready to see her role expand. While Heising saw wonderful leadership in Crow as an alternate captain last year, she is already excited with what Crow has done as a captain this season.
"She handles every situation exactly how it should be," Heising said. "And she cares so much about each individual girl, that she will do whatever it takes to help them. No matter what. Crow will always be there for each and every girl, and that is something I admire so much."
Crow's caring personality is exactly what she strives to be for her team. According to Crow, she wants to ensure that she lives up to her role in creating a winning culture, by showing her teammates the value of commitment in all aspects of their lives as student-athletes.
For Crow, her influence as a captain comes from former Penn State and Minnetonka High School teammate Laura Bowman. Having Bowman as a captain for two years in high school and two years in college has molded Crow into the captain that she hopes to be this season, according to Crow.
When head coach Jeff Kampersal arrived at Penn State a year and a half ago, he noticed how quiet and shy Crow was. Although she has grown as a player and leader tremendously, Kampersal appreciates the stoic persona and one word answers that she has always been famous for.
"You know exactly what you can count on with Kelsey in any situation. You know you can trust her with anything," Kampersal said.
Kampersal wants people to know how impressive Crow is as a player, given all that she does on the ice. He feels that she should be in the USA Hockey mix, and the fact that she spends so much time on the ice, to help cover for other people, shows how truly impressive of a player she is.
"She can play her 40th minute as good as her fourth minute," Kampersal said.
This past win against Colgate, the first win against a top-five ranked opponent in program history is already a step towards creating that new winning culture that Kampersal, Crow and the other players want. Part of that process is having a player that embodies success like Crow.
She knows what it will entail on her end to create that desired culture.
"It's definitely a lot of responsibility, but that's not something I'm really afraid of," Crow said. "It's definitely an opportunity to try to step up and change this program. I definitely think we're on a pivotal year."
With her team behind her, Crow is certain to impress this season. Her leadership is very affective, according to Kampersal.
"She sets the standard, and they follow," Kampersal said.
That standard is high. Crow accomplished a lot last season, as she played in 35 of the 36 games in the season and accomplished several career bests when she tallied 15 points on four goals and 11 assists. Crow was also named to the All-CHA First Team.
While she was successful on the ice last year, she succeeds off the ice as well. A psychology major, she has won numerous academic awards, such as AHCA All-American Scholar (2017-18, 2016-17), BIG Ten Distinguished Scholar (2017-18, 2016-17), CHA All-Academic Team (2017-18, 2016-17, 2015-16), Academic All-BIG Ten Team (2016-17).
The Nittany Lions will host their first home contests of the regular season with two games against Merrimack this weekend: Friday, October 5th and Saturday, October, 6th.
