Senior Olivia Ellis surpassed another milestone in her career at Oswego State, becoming the first player to score 100 career points in program history. She accomplished the feat with her second assist of the night against Plattsburgh State on Feb. 3.

She has almost 40 points more than Melissa Seamount, who sits in second place with 63 points. Seamount graduated in 2014, the spring before Ellis began her freshman season with the Lakers.

“It’s always a great thing when you can have a player who can be successful to that degree,” Dillon said. “It shows steady progress through her career, that she’s gotten better every year. She’s been somebody to reckon with every single season from the minute she stepped on this campus. I think it’s wonderful. I’m thrilled for her.”

Ellis, who is originally from Ontario, Canada, was sent to Wilcox, Saskatchewan, Canada, by her parents at just 15 years old to continue her hockey career before coming to Oswego State. Wilcox, a town of less than 500 people, is known for its school, the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame, and its prestigious hockey program, the Notre Dame Hounds.

Under the helm of coach Janice Rumpel, Ellis played one year in the Junior Women’s Hockey League for the Hounds during the 2013-2014 season. According to Rumpel, she had high potential at a young age.

“She’s not only a good hockey player, but a good person,” Rumpel said. “She’s works hard in school, works hard on the ice and works hard off the ice. That’s the reason why she’s where she is.”

As a Hound, Ellis had 26 points in her lone season, good enough for fourth best that year. But she was on an extremely strong team. She was well behind Jaycee Gebhard, who had 63 points and now plays at Robert Morris University.

Ellis was heavily sought after by Dillon before coming to Oswego State. Dillon and the rest of her coaching staff traveled to Ontario to visit Ellis and her family. According to Dillon, a person that really stood out to her was Ellis’s grandfather. He told Dillon a lot about Ellis as a young child.

“We led a full-fledged effort to encourage her to go to Oswego State. We basically stalked the kid,” Dillon said. “Olivia was one of those players we pursued for a long time. We got her on campus, and she fell in love with it.”

A big part that pushed Ellis to come to Oswego was the proximity to her family. Compared to the 26 hours from Ontario to Wilcox, it was a 2 1/2 hour drive to Oswego from her home.

“The campus is amazing, the rink is just beautiful, and the team atmosphere is really good,” Ellis said. “I thought if something happened, and I couldn’t play hockey, I could still go to school here.”

Ellis had a lot of potential coming into her freshman season, according to Dillon. As a freshman, she was also given a little more free reign compared to others after seeing what she could do in practice. Dillon said she would challenge a lot of the upperclassmen during practices.

“I knew she had the potential to be a captain, and anytime you can recruit a captain, it makes a big difference,” Dillon said. “Knowing that was potentially in her future, it not only helps her but the program as well.”

Ellis has led the team in points every year during her time at Oswego State, ultimately leading to her 100th career point as a Laker. She also has the most career goals and assists, pacing more than one point per game in her career. Dillon said she has a sense of competitiveness that has led to her success in college.

“She’s one of the hardest working kids in practice,” Dillon said. “She rarely takes a shift off. We have her playing in all kinds of situations because she’s earned it.”

Ellis also had some pretty big moments this season, some of which have been noticed by ESPN hockey personality John Buccigross on Twitter. He has tweeted a couple of the highlights that were sent out by the Oswego Athletics account.

“I think it’s pretty cool to get our program out there and get [Div. III] women’s ice hockey retweeted by such a big supporter of the ice hockey field,” Ellis said.

Now, the end of the regular season is rolling around for Ellis and the Lakers with four conference matchups left before the potential Northeast Women’s Hockey League playoffs, which begin in late February.

The Lakers face SUNY Cortland on Feb. 9 and 10, and then play SUNY Potsdam on Feb. 16 and 17 to close out the regular season. The second game against the Bears is senior day for the Lakers. Oswego State is the only team in the conference that has four NEWHL games left.

“We can’t play down to their level now that our team sees we can play with the No. 1 team in the nation,” Ellis said. “We’ve just got to bring that mentality into practice and into the game everyday.”

Ellis and the other six seniors have less than a month left in their Laker career, with the potential NEWHL championship game happening on March 3.

“It’s starting to dawn on them [that they only have a month left],” Dillon said. “I want Olivia to finish on a strong note. I want her to enjoy her last four regular season games. I want her to be successful and enjoy the last run.”

Graphic: Ryan Zalduondo | The Oswegonian