Most teams’ idea of a perfect weekend wouldn’t involve Buffalo, N.Y. — a city that received more snow than Ann Arbor this year. But that’s just where the women’s club ice hockey team worked all season to be.
“Every extra game we played at nationals was a bonus because, last year, we had a really rough season, and the fact that we qualified for nationals this year was huge,” Michigan senior forward Stacey Moses said.
After winning only four games last season, the icers rebounded to finish 14-8-3 — including a six-game winning streak to finish the season. The Wolverines made it in to the American Collegiate Hockey Association national tournament as the 11th seed after missing nationals the past three seasons.
“As an 11 seed, you pretty much go and don’t have anything to lose,” Moses said.
The team lost 3-1 to Massachusetts-Amherst and 10-2 to Lindenwood in the round-robin round. The two losses placed the icers into a consolation game against Northern Michigan on Saturday.
“The game went back and forth, and Northern played one of the best games we’d seen them play all season,” Moses said.
The game was tied 2-2 going into sudden-death overtime. Only 2:26 into the extra period, Northern Michigan’s Lauren Markowski ended the Wolverines’ dream of finishing the tournament with a victory.
“It was sort of a fudged play in our end,” Moses said. “(Markowski) got a good shot off, and our goalie was screened. (Michigan junior Jen Barnhart) never saw the puck. It was unfortunate.”
But even though the team failed to make a statement in Buffalo, it did make the finals of its league. It lost to Western Michigan 4-1 on March 6 in the Central Collegiate Women’s Hockey Association (CCWHA) championship game.
The loss came after four straight wins in the tournament, including handing Western Michigan its first conference loss of the season.
“We knew we could beat them, and we caught them by surprise,” Michigan coach Adam Winters said. “I think, the second game, they were a little more ready for us.”
The Wolverines played five games in three days at the CCWHA tournament and had a four-hour break between the last two games. But the team is used to busy schedules, practicing three times a week and playing two games every weekend. And usually, the games don’t start until 10 or 11 p.m.
“They have definite priorities,” Michigan coach Andrea Shear said. “We all know that school comes first, but these girls have made hockey a big priority in their lives.”
It was an impressive finish for the squad, which started the season with two new coaches and six rookies.
“It was a very rewarding experience because we really saw this team grow throughout the year,” Winters said.
“Our six rookies were an integral part of the team because we went through some tough times last year, and they weren’t a part of it and they kind of brought a fresh start to the veteran players.”
But after seeing the top-ranked teams play at nationals in Buffalo, the Wolverines are inspired to build on their success next season.
“One of our main goals will be making it back to the national tournament,” Shear said. “But at the same time, our No. 1 goal is to make sure everyone enjoys playing hockey. That’s something we ended up kind of losing last year, and, this year, we were able to bring it back.”