Whoops....forgot to put a subject on the first one... :)
 
As promised....my season-end feature for the Cornell women's ice hockey
team....now I move on to cover men's lacrosse.
 
Head: Women Icers Look Back on Season
By MICHAEL GREENBERG
 
        What do you get when you throw together 10 freshmen, a second-year
coach and a program that won two games all of last season? A rebuilding
year, of course.
        That's what the women's hockey team expected the 1994-95 campaign
to be. And while a 7-15 (5-9 ECAC) record is far from exceptional, the
women icers feel they have exceeded their expectations by achieving a
number of goals -- not just the ones that go on the scoreboard.
        "We had a great season," junior Jennifer Wilson said. "We improved
a lot -- not only in our stats. The team was playing better."
        By adhering to the concept that a team's performance is not always
shown by its record, head coach Julie Andeberhan remained optimistic
throughout the season and emphasized improving the team through performance
goals.
        "When you start aiming at winning games, title and Players of the
Year, you lose track of what's important," Andeberhan said. "You can't
control the goals, but you can control playing good defense and attack."
                        STARTING OFF HOT
        After closing a long preseason with an 8-0 exhibition victory over
the RPI Lady Engineers, the icers were anxious to get on the ice and play a
regular-season game. They opened against Boston College, taking the Eagles
to overtime before sophomore Jessica Becker poked home the winning goal.
        Less than a week later, the Red entered the 1994 All American
Girls'/Women's Ice Hockey Tournament in Minnesota. The icers defeated their
first opponent, a club team from St. Cloud, by a score of 6-3. Although
this win did not count on the record, the Red unofficially opened the
season 2-0.
        "It was definitely an upbeat season, after winning the first two
games," senior co-captain Christine Stewart said. "Being able to start on a
couple of wins made people turn their heads."
                        A SEASON OF STREAKS
        Unfortunately for the women icers, it would be nearly two months
before they could record their second official win. The Red lost the next
two games of the tournament, followed by a pair of contests at Brown and
Providence and then three more at home.
        This seven-game skid came to an end over winter break, when the Red
hosted Harvard. The game once again went into overtime, but this time, the
winning goal was scored by freshman Janna Dewar.
        The Red then stayed hot for its next six games, compiling a 5-1
record over a period of three weeks. The final win of the streak came at
Harvard, as the icers completed the season sweep of Andeberhan's alma
mater.
        The icers' season took another turn for the worse as they then fell
in their next six contests. They picked up a victory against Yale in the
final weekend of the season, but lost to Princeton the next day, finishing
with a 1-7 record over the last eight games of the year.
        When a team experiences such defined streaks, fans begin to wonder
about the overall morale of the squad. Is the team's performance being
affected by a string of tough rivals, or are the players going through
periods of not giving 100 percent?
        "It was a little of both," Wilson offered. "The tough opponents
seemed to be grouped together, so it had more to do with the opponents than
with the team attitude."
                        'GREAT COACHING STAFF'
        The women icers had nothing but praise to offer to the coaching
staff of Andeberhan and assistant coaches Carol Mullins and Kindra
Correnti.
        "All the coaches are great," Wilson said. "Our lines really came
together due to a combination of the coaches and players."
        In her first recruiting season, Andeberhan intoduced 10 new faces
to the Red Lineup. With the freshmen came both talent and enthusiasm.
        "They were no just a talented group of freshmen," Andeberhan said.
"The contributed to the character of the team."
        Right from the start, the new players were playing alongside the
veterans. According to Andeberhan, "there was no segregation."
        Again, the players attributed this unity to the coaches.
        "We had a great coaching staff," junior Kelvey Richards said. "They
read the team very well."
        Andeberhan returned some of the credit to the team itself.
        "It was the most unified team I've ever coached." Andeberhan said.
"They made it a really fun season."