Women's Hockey will not overlook Niagra

Head coach Jeff Giesen has strong hopes for the upcoming season.

“We have high expectations for our program; we have high expectations for our team. Hopefully it will work out for us,” Giesen said.

The game against Niagara will present the first real challenge the Huskies have had to face this season.

Even though the team played an exhibition game against Team USA last week, the outcome of that match will not count for the season.

 “We knew going into the (Team) USA game that the score was never going to be a factor in our reflection of how we played,” Giesen said. “All that mattered was how hard we worked and if we competed right down to the very end. We were able to try some things without having any wins, losses or points count for the season. When playing against a team (USA) with such caliber and speed, our pace of the game is going to have to be pretty quick. We know we will not have to worry about picking up the game speed to compete at a high level this weekend.”

 Niagara is coming into the series after a 5-2 preseason win against Brock University, but the Huskies are not very worried about facing that already has a win already under their belts.

“We’ve been on both sides- last season we beat Saskatchewan 10-1 last season and ended up losing our home opener. I don’t think the preseason games dictate too much about how the season will go,” Giesen said.

However, the team will not overlook Niagara.

“Well, obviously it is the first few real games of the year, so we are just getting a feel for things. Niagara has a new coach, so they will play with a lot of energy. We’re still worrying about what we’re doing, to see how our players play and react in a more pressured situation than we were in last weekend against USA,” Giesen said. “We’re matched up with them pretty evenly. They do some of the things that we do, but the things we do are a little better.”

St. Cloud State’s team has eight returning seniors and an equal amount incoming first year players. They will really depend on the seniors to step up this series.

“We’re looking towards our senior class to carry most of the load. Everyone else fills in behind them and go as they go. Our senior class in general is going to have to lead us,” Giesen said.

The Huskies play at 7:07 p.m. Fri., Oct. 2 and at 4:07 p.m. Sat., Oct. 3.

“Hopefully we’ll be exciting to watch and give the fans something to cheer about,” Giesen said.