No matter the temperature outside, a University of Idaho athletic club feels at home in the cold.
The Idaho women’s club hockey team can be found putting in the hours at the Palouse Ice Rink, getting ready for the myriad of teams it may face in the upcoming months.
Senior Lizzie Jossie knows a thing or two about skating for the Vandals. A hockey player for 12 years, Jossie joined during her first year at Idaho.
“It’s been interesting how the team has changed and how our skills have changed,” Jossie said. “When I first started as a freshman, a lot of teammates were grad students who were new to hockey and playing for fun. But, over the years we’ve gotten more skilled players and have recruited freshmen with hockey experience.”
Jossie, now captain of the team, led the Vandals to a second-place finish in the Palouse Care Cup earlier this season.
Idaho continued to impress after competing in a tournament in Wenatchee, Washington on Friday. The tournament was the third of the year for the Vandals. Teams from across the Northwest traveled to take their shot at glory, but no one seemed able to get past Idaho.
In their first game, the Vandals defeated the Wenatchee Mustachios 6-1.
Idaho scored first following a scrum in front of the net. The Mustachios answered 20 seconds into the following period, as Robin Herschbach sniped in a shot from 15 yards out.
It took two minutes for Idaho to regain the lead. Jossie found Erika Rader who had an open look at the left side of the net.
The pair connected yet again midway through the period in almost identical fashion. This time Jossie threaded a pass through two defenders.
Jossie earned a goal herself at the 3:32 mark of the period, snagging a goalie deflection and punching it into the bottom right corner of the net.
Aly Bean increased the lead for Idaho in the third period, launching a shot from 20 yards out.
In their second game, Idaho took down SnoCoWoHo, a club team from Snohomish County.
SnoCoWoHo immediately scored on a coast-to-coast shot following a penalty kill.
Jossie knotted the game at 1-1 with 21 seconds left in the first period, blowing the shot past the outstretched arm of the goalie into the upper right corner of the net.
Logan Weyand was called for checking and given a three-minute penalty, but Bean scored a shorthanded goal for Idaho on a one-on-one breakaway attempt.
Jossie scored again following a deflection off the goalie’s stick, giving the Vandals a two-goal advantage.
Weyand capitalized on a defensive lapse to breakaway for another goal in the with 3:44 remaining in the second period.
Seconds later, junior Keanna Hawk swung around the goal and knocked the puck off the post and into net for her first goal of the tournament.
Two minutes into the final period, Rader snuck the puck in between the goaltender’s legs to give Idaho a 6-1 advantage. Hawk scored her second goal of the game at the 8:47 mark of the period, catching the puck with her skates and swiveling 180 degrees to dump it into the net.
Idaho scored its final goal at 4:46 mark on a Rader to Hawk connection.
“During the first period, I was feeling pretty tired from the first game, so I wasn’t sure how the outcome was going to be,” Hawk said. “But once I started playing with my team a little bit more and we started getting some goals there, it just felt good.”
The Vandals advanced to Game 3, where they defeated the Wenatchee Banshee 5-1.
Jossie scored 25 seconds into the start of the game, catching a pass from Rader and blasting it into the net.
Hawk scored minutes later near the goal line, twisting her body around and slicing the puck at a difficult angle.
Weyand slapped a shot in between the goaltender’s legs to increase the early lead to 3-0.
Jossie scored with 10 seconds left in the period on a twisting backhanded shot.
The Banshee finally got on the scoreboard in the opening minutes of the third period.
Rader got the final goal for Idaho, snagging a rebound off the goalie and pushing it into the bottom right corner of the net.
The third win for the Vandals earned them a spot in the championship. Meanwhile, SnoCoWoHo found themselves back in contention after beating the Yakima Sting 4-3.
The Vandals again proved to be too much for the Snohomish skaters. Idaho went on to take the title 6-1. Demi Vargas netted the first goal for Idaho after Weyand’s shot deflected off the goaltender. It was at the 11:24 mark of the first period. Late in the second period, Rader sniped a shot underneath the goaltender to extend the lead to 3-0.
Vargas capped off the offensive effort for the Vandals in the second period. Idaho added another goal in the third period to hold on for the win, despite a late goal for SnoCoWoHo.
Jossie said that the success of her team never takes away from the true mission: having a good time on the ice.
“For the most part we are pretty recreational and don’t take ourselves too seriously,” she said. “In all it’s been fun and it’s great to play my sport and represent my school.”
Brandon Hill can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @brandonmtnhill