Shannon Bryant enters her second year at the helm of the
Williams women’s ice hockey program focused on helping her
team reach its potential.
The Ephs’ 2006-2007 campaign came to a close with a 3-2
overtime loss to Amherst in the first round of the NESCAC
tournament, resulting in a final record of 8-13-4.
Remarking on her team’s performance last season, Coach
Bryant said, “I think we ended up underperforming, for one
reason or another. One of my goals for the team this year is
to perform to our potential.”
Bryant hopes to build upon the foundation she laid last year,
during her first season as head coach. As the preseason gets
underway, Bryant is counting on her veteran players, in particular
her four returning seniors, to show the six first-year players the
ropes. “It’s great to have players familiar with
the system,” Bryant said. “I think the younger
players will benefit from having returners who can mentor and
teach.” As for the first-years, Bryant believes the
group brings a lot of personality to the locker room and just as
much talent to the ice.
Returning in goal for the Ephs is senior co-captain Denise
McCulloch, who finished last season with a save percentage of
0.882. Also competing for time between the pipes will be
junior Kate Schwed and sophomore Betsy Laurin. “Denise
will be strong for us this year. But Kate and Betsy came
ready to push for playing time,” said Bryant.
McCulloch, Schwed, and Laurin will be aided by a defensive line
that includes juniors Joey Lye and Mallory Green, sophomore Kait
O’Brien, and senior Sarah Nowakowski. “Joey
is very solid in the back and understands the system. Mallory and
Kait are both in the back making us stronger, as well as
Sarah,” said Bryant. Bryant will also look to
first-years Jacqueline Berglass and Lauren Zurek for contributions
on defense.
Offensively, the Ephs will have their work cut out for them in
attempting to replace their top three scorers from last
season. Looking to pick up the slack will be seniors Caralyn
Quan (captain) and Allie Morrow (co-captain) and sophomore Tracey
Ferriter. “Caralyn has really good game sense and will
be good offensively for us. Tracey has been really
competitive in practice and we’ll be looking for both her and
Allie to put the puck in the net,” said Bryant. Juniors
Sam Tarnasky and Catherine Mullen and sophomore Torrey Taussig are
also expected to play contributing roles. “Torrey and
Catherine are great skaters and will put a lot of pressure on other
teams. Sam is coming back from a knee injury, but is also
looking very strong.” Rounding out the offensive line
will be first-years Stephanie Berger, Erin Mandigo, Mimi McClatchy,
and Allison Page.
Bryant knows that the Ephs’ competition within the
conference will be stiff, “The NESCAC is strong as
always. It’s a great league to play in because of
that.” Nevertheless, Bryant is confident in her
team’s ability to come together and meet the challenges that
await them. “This is a really cohesive group, very
driven, and very accepting of each other. I think that is
going to help down the stretch when we get in situations that are
tough.”
The Ephs will open their season this Saturday against
SUNY-Plattsburgh in the first round of the Middlebury tournament.
The scheduled start time for the contest is 2:00 PM.
All games of the Middlebury Tournament are being carried on the web as either an audio/video broadcast and an audio only broadcast by USCHO.com -- click here to go to the USCHO webcast page for the tournament.
