On the brink
SLIPPERY ROCK — One player scored 44 goals in just seven games. Another tallied 10 goals and 15 points in three games.
Others had never picked up a stick before the season started.
But Slippery Rock University’s women’s club hockey team — despite its wide disparity in experience and talent — was the No. 1 seed and reached the Delaware Valley College Hockey Conference (DWCHC) Division III championship game in Harrington, De., recently.
The Rock was 5-1 during the season, losing only a 13-12 decision to Saint Joseph’s. SRU was defeated by St. Joe’s, 11-6, in the title game. Jessie Trube scored all six goals in the defeat, giving her 44 for the season.
“Just a phenomenal player,” SRU assistant coach Tyler Headland said. “Jessie grew up in (Grand Rapids) Michigan and has been playing hockey since she was 3 or 4 years old. She’s good for five or six goals per game, usually more.”
Trube led all of American College Hockey Association (ACHA) Division II and III women’s hockey in goals scored this year. Also a field hockey player at The Rock, she scored 13 goals for that team last season.
Senior defenseman Brenna Moore, a Butler resident, had 10 goals and five assists in three games before graduating from SRU. Once she graduated, Moore was ineligible to continue playing for the team.
“Just one of those quirky rules,” assistant coach Steven Strobel said. “We really missed her. Brenna was one of our better players.”
Larry Moore is the team’s head coach, but was unable to make the league championship game due to work commitments. Team president and captain Katie Irvine, a forward, is from Fenelton.
Her older brother, Alex, played high school hockey at Butler.
“I got to SRU, found out they had a women’s team and were recruiting players,” Irvine said. “It looked like fun. I had played dek hockey and decided to give it a try.
“The team accepts players of all skill levels, even if you haven’t played hockey or even skated before. Some girls come and practice with the team and learn the game as they go along. If they’re not ready to play in an actual game, they keep practicing and working at it until they are.”
The team practices and plays at The Frozen Pond in Valencia and in New Castle. Practices are usually held at 9:45 p.m. on Tuesday nights.
Irvine added that some of those first-year players “progressed very well and wound up helping us out. They are determined to learn.”
Other Butler County players on the roster include senior forward Carlee Haser of Zelienople, freshman Emily Spotts of Sarver and freshman forward Jillian Panizza of Slippery Rock.
Irvine, a junior, emphasized the team will need new players next season as this year’s roster is losing a number of seniors. Anyone interested may contact her at kbi1001@sru.edu.
The DVCHC consisted of six teams this season. There are 38 ACHA women’s hockey teams nationwide.
“This season didn’t end the way we wanted,” Headland said. “We have six or seven seniors, it was their last game, and nerves set in a little bit. But I like the blend of players we have and how the experienced, talented ones help bring the newcomers along.
“It’s a great thing to be a part of.”
