by The Cowl Editor on February 16, 2017
Sports
By Lauren Altmeyer ’17
Over the weekend, the Providence College Women’s Ice Hockey Team celebrated a few important milestones. Head Coach Bob Deraney became the winningest coach in Women’s Hockey East history with 154 league wins. On top of that, the Friars also held a ceremony to retire the jersey of number 21 Cammi Granato ’93. Granato was the greatest women’s hockey player to ever lace up the skates for the Friars, playing from 1989-1993 and tallying a whopping 256 points (139 goals and 117 assists) in 99 games. She then went on to captain Team USA in the 1998 and 2002 Olympics (the first time women competed in Olympic hockey) and brought home gold and silver medals respectively. Granato was also the first woman to ever get inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2010.
With just two games remaining in the regular season, the Friars are beginning to set their sights on the postseason. The team currently sits at fourth place in the Hockey East standings with a 10-9-3 conference record and a 15-14-3 overall record. Providence is situated at 16th place in the PairWise Rankings, a position that, if maintained, will enter them into the NCAA Tournament. It would be the first time since the 2004-2005 season that the program qualifies for the tournament.
The Friars will play their last regular season series against the Boston College Eagles this upcoming weekend. The Eagles sit in first place in Hockey East and are number five in the PairWise Rankings. Saturday afternoon’s game will be held at 2 p.m. at Schneider Arena and will honor the program’s graduating seniors: goaltender Alanna Serviss ’17; defensemen Ariana Buxman ’17, Arianna Reed ’17, Kendra Goodrich ’17, and Lauren Klein ’17; and forward Cassidy Carels ’17.
Carels leads the team in scoring with 18 goals and 14 assists to make up 32 points, a career high for the forward. Throughout her 136 games in the Friars uniform, Carels has amassed 48 goals and 55 assists to give her a total of 103 points so far.
With Carels leading the offense, the Friars will look to players like Whitney Dove ’20, Kate Friesen ’19, and Rachel Rockwell ’20 to lead the defense. Dove, Friesen, and Rockwell have combined for 69 points from 24 goals and 45 assists. In goal, Madison Myers ’19 has continued to improve from her freshman year. Last season Myers finished with a 3.05 GAA and 9-15-2 record, while this year she currently holds a 2.75 GAA and 9-10-3 record.
If these players can continue to shine, the Friars have a chance at beating the Eagles and making it to the NCAA tournament.