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Women's team eyeing turnaround
 Media Credit: Leslie Andres SCSU’s Krista Simonson fires a shot in a pre-season friendly game against the North York Aeros, from Toronto, Sunday at the National Hockey Center. The Huskies won 4-2.
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In only its fifth year of existence, the SCSU women's hockey program looks to begin a new era.
One part of this new era includes first year head coach Jason Lesteberg. Lesteberg is looking to build off of the seven games the Huskies won last season, when they finished in sixth place in the WCHA and also make the Huskies successful in all aspects of the game. His first goal for the team is a lofty one.
"We want to make it to the (WCHA) Final Five," Lesteberg said. "I'm not saying we're going to win every game, but I think we can do it."
Freshmen defender Randie Jelinski agrees with Lesteberg's comments.
"It looks very promising this year," Jelinski said. "It's a lot more serious that it was last year."
The Huskies first and second goals go hand-in-hand. Lesteberg's second goal is for team to have the attitude to win every game.
"There's a lot of good teams (in the WCHA) and some teams lose right off the bat because they think they're going to lose right off the bat," Lesteberg said.
There's little doubt in Lesteberg's mind that there are a lot of tough teams in the WCHA. He had to compete with WCHA teams last year while coaching Bemidji State University. He said that all the teams in the conference are tough, and the Huskies can't look at any one team as the main contender for the title.
"We're looking at one game at a time," he said. "We have to play well every night."
The Huskies' third goal is the biggest for Lesteberg and his squad.
"We just want to go out every game and have fun playing every game," he said.
Along with Lesteberg, 10 freshmen join this season's squad as well.
"We have a lot of depth with this crop of freshmen," Lesteberg said. "They should do really well."
Junior Kobi Kawamoto agrees, saying that the new crop of first year players is waiting to break out.
"They're just so eager to learn," she said. "It just makes being in practice so much fun to be at."
On the ice, one would think the Huskies have all the right elements to improve on last season's record. The Huskies open the 2002-2003 season with four of their top five scorers returning from last season. Junior forward Roxanne Stang is one of those returning. She scored 24 goals and had nine assists last season. Senior forward Abby Cooper also is back with the squad. Cooper was second on the team last year in scoring with 11 goals and 16 assists.
Captaining this year's team is Kawamoto, who in two seasons has scored 22 goals and 39 points. She is also a two-time All-WCHA second team member. Lesteberg feels this will be Kawamoto's breakthrough year.
"Kobi's continuing to develop into a great hockey player," he said. "I feel she's ready to explode. She's been asked to do a lot in her first two years, with logging over 40 minutes of ice-time a game."
The Huskies depth on defense will also be improved. Lesteberg feels he has three or four players that can play on both sides of the puck. In the net, the first-year coach will have three quality goaltenders in senior Laura Gieselman, junior Ellen Brinkman and freshman Brie Anderson. When it comes to a style of play, Lesteberg doesn't really have a set technique.
"If we are fundamentally sound on the systems we choose, or change to throughout the season, we will limit or mistakes while creating more opportunities for us to capitalize on," he said.
One thing is certain: the players are happy with their new coach.
"He's an awesome coach," Kawamoto said. "He played a lot of hockey and he just seems to know the game really well."
Freshman defender Kelly Stewart agrees with Kawamoto's comments.
"He's doing great," she said. "There have been huge improvements from last year on work ethics and discipline, and it's all helping out."
The Huskies open on Oct. 12 and 13 at the National Hockey Center against Bemidji State.
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