Freshman forward Jacquelin White is turning heads while she leads the Oswego State women’s ice hockey team in goals for the season. Jacquelin currently has 26 points on the season, 14 of which are goals, ranking her inside the top five among freshman in Div. III. This mark also puts her just one point shy of eclipsing Olivia Ellis’ previous program record for most points in a freshman season with 27.

Jacquelin, and her twin sister Julieann, both grew up with a passion for hockey. They picked up the sport at a young age and never looked back, improving every year. After high school, Jacquelin and Julieann both decided that they were going to take the academic year off to focus on hockey. During that year they played for the Honey Baked Hockey Club in Michigan. The Twins decided that they wanted to stick together when it came to playing hockey. That has led them through playing for the Honey Baked to being recruited by Oswego State for their collegiate career.

“I couldn’t imagine playing against my sister,” Jacquelin said. “We were always close so we never wanted to split up.”

Jacquelin had a few schools to choose from when it came to recruitment, including the No. 1 team in the nation SUNY Plattsburgh.

Head coach Diane Dillon of the women’s ice hockey team was more than happy to extend the offer to Jacquelin, Julieann, and their Honey Baked teammate Madison Byrne, which was exactly what the trio were looking for.

“It wasn’t tough to make the decision,” Jacquelin said. “Julieann, Madison and I all wanted to stick together and this is one of the schools that offered to all three of us.”

According to Jacquelin, adjusting to Oswego State was also easy. The team was very open to her in the beginning, which helped her feel more welcomed as a Laker. Jacquelin really started to shine from the moment she stepped on the ice for Lakers. She scored her first collegiate goal for the Lakers during the exhibition game against the Toronto Midget Aeros. Her goal broke the tie between the teams and set the Lakers up for a 3-1 win for the first game of the season.

“She’s a very talented kid and she definitely has the potential to be an All American, but she’s got to bring it every day,” Dillon said.

Dillon noted that she has seen quite a bit of progression with Jacquelin not only on the ice but in the classroom as well. After taking the year off academically, Dillon was very concerned with the girls being able to jump back into the classroom.

“They hit the ground running and really applied themselves because we were on them pretty hard,” Dillon said. “Hockey wise, they didn’t know what to be afraid of in this league.”

According to Dillon, Jacquelin shows no fear on the ice and she keeps a positive attitude, which is encouraging to her teammates.

“The kid just loves the game and she loves to skate so I think that part of it made it easier to not deal with hesitation or being timid on the ice,” Dillon said.

Jacquelin has produced in nearly every game she’s had with the Lakers. Dillon believes that her speed has something to do with it. After witnessing what kind of potential Jacquelin had in the first few games of the season, Dillon decided to move her onto the same line as Olivia Ellis and Alexa Aramburu, which clicked almost immediately.

“Early on, we saw what kind of speed she had, which we recognized when we recruited her, but she turned it up a notch,” Dillon said. “She’s playing with two line mates who are really unselfish. That line can really just move the puck well and so we’re thrilled for that.”

Jacquelin also gives most of the credit of her success to her upperclassman line mates.

“I wouldn’t be as successful without them setting me up,” Jacquelin said.

Although Jacquelin has shown a great amount of success as a player, her coaches and her team continue to encourage her to work harder to improve her skills even more. Dillon also believes that a turning point for Jacquelin was during the SUNY Potsdam game earlier this season.

“She’s not surprising anyone anymore,” Dillon said. “They’ve seen the points, they’ve watched the film, they know what she can do. She started to play gritty and tough and fought through checks and fought for loose pucks. We saw another side to her that we really haven’t seen yet and it was fun to watch.”

Jacquelin’s skills show on the ice that she isn’t just playing the game, but while racing down the ice smiling ear to ear she shows she’s having fun while doing it.

“We don’t even know yet what her full potential is because she’s just a very, very good skater,” Dillon said. “She can handle the puck, she’s got moves and she has the savvy to try things where some kids can be a little more timid.”

Jacquelin has proven to be a valued player this season and shows that she has the opportunity to not only grow with the Lakers but take the program to another level in the future. With passion in her eyes, Jacquelin shines every time she handles the puck, and it has shown with her incredible record as a rookie.

“I love the game and I’ve never really thought about stopping or quitting so I just continue to play,” Jacquelin said.