The Oswego State women’s club ice hockey team is off to a strong start, winning their first game against Syracuse University’s club ice hockey team 4-2 and going on to win their next two scrimmages.

After losing six seniors to graduation at the end of last season, the team brought in six new players, bringing their roster up to a full team, said Shannon Moran, the women’s club ice hockey president. As president, Moran is in charge of scheduling games and coordinating ice time.

The team also has new coaches this year, Oswego State students Dillon Spall and John Lynch.

Other leaders on the team are captains Taylor Scheuing, Jennifer Tardelli and Maddie Edwards.

While there are a lot of new players on the roster this year, all the players have had previous experience on the ice.

“It’s not like people will come and not know how to play hockey,” Sarah Rousell, a sophomore on the team, said. “It’s girls who have played in the past, so our team is relatively strong in that aspect.”

Club sports at Oswego State offer students the opportunity to continue to play the sport they love at a competitive level without the intense time commitment of being on an NCAA athletic team.

“I played [hockey] for a long time, since I was like 10,” Moran said. “I didn’t necessarily want to stop, but I didn’t want to make the commitment to a Div. III team. It was a good way to meet a good group of friends and still stay active.” 

Rousell has been on the ice playing hockey consistently since she was 5 years old.

“I felt like when I got to school, I would’ve been lost if I wasn’t doing something,” Rousell said.

The team practices on the ice at the Marano Campus Center Ice Arena twice a week: Wednesdays from 10 to 11:30 p.m. and Thursdays from 8:30 to 10 p.m.

“It’s hard to wake up the next morning,” sophomore Skylar Senn said.

The team plays one game every other weekend against other club ice hockey teams. Last year, the team was in a trial league with Colgate University, SUNY Cortland, SUNY Geneseo, the College and Brockport and RIT, but the league is having a difficult time getting organized this season.

The team won the trial league’s championships last season. However, according to Moran, it is “up in the air” as to whether or not the league will be organized in time for Oswego State to defend their title.

According to Moran, this year’s league consists tentatively of Oswego State, SUNY Cortland, SUNY Geneseo and the College at Brockport.

“We’re pretty much just trying to set up a league with other teams,” Moran said. “But we play other schools who don’t want to be in the league too.”

The women’s club ice hockey team has a game this Saturday against SUNY Cortland.

Like most other club sports at Oswego State, the women’s club hockey team is funded by the Student Association. SA provides funds for gas cards to travel to away games, as well as team jerseys and hockey socks. Players must provide their own equipment, such as pads, sticks and skates.

According to Moran, the team is a close-knit group of friends. They spend time together outside of practice regularly.

“We’re with the same girls consistently throughout the season, so we build relationships with our teammates,” Rousell said.

The team holds a formal at the end of the season in March and also does volunteer work. This year, they volunteered at the Alzheimer’s walk in Liverpool.

“It’s not just like, we show up and play together, we’re actually friends,” Moran said.