Fred Quistgard
The women's hockey team, which last weekend completed its best season since becoming Union's 25th varsity sport in 1999-00, will open the ECAC East postseason tournament Saturday at Rochester Institute of Technology. The opening face-off is set for 7 p.m.
Five years ago head Coach Fred Quistgard was hired as the program's first mentor. The 1998-99 team, which was playing its last year as a club sport, struggled against varsity competition. The first two varsity seasons saw the Dutchwomen finish 14 of 18 teams (they were 4-19-0 overall and 4-13-0 in the ECAC) and 17 of 19 (3-19-2 overall and 1-15-2 in the ECAC). Last year's squad finished the regular season in sixth place in the ECAC with a league mark of 8-9-1 (8-15-2 overall). The first round of the playoffs sent the Garnet to Troy where they lost to Rensselaer, 9-2.
Step-by-step, year-by-year, player-by-player, Quistgard has moved this program forward. On Saturday the team will find out just how much it has matured as the No. 5 Dutchwomen take on the fourth-ranked Tigers at 7 p.m.
Union, which posted its first winning league record (10-9-1) and its best overall mark (11-13-1), will play an RIT team that is eager for revenge. Coming into the 2002-03 season, the Dutchwomen had never beaten the Tigers. The weekend of January 31 changed all that as Union celebrated Senior Recognition Weekend by sweeping RIT, 6-2 and 3-2.
“We are looking forward to our match-up with RIT,” said Quistgard. “They are a strong team that would like to avenge our sweep of them earlier this month. Advancing to the Final Four and competing for the automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament would be a tremendous step for our program.
“We have worked hard for the past four years to establish a competitive program,” he continued. “Now we want to win and show the hockey community that Union Hockey has arrived. This is a great opportunity to show our progress.”
Offensively, the Dutchwomen scored more goals (108) than any other time in their brief varsity history. Leading the charge are three sophomore forwards:
Liz Flanagan (Simsbury, CT/Loomis Chaffee) with 14 goals, 26 assists, 40 points,
Courtney Riepenhoff (Skillman, NJ/Choate Rosemary), who has 20-21-32, and
Molly Flanagan (Simsbury, CT/Loomis Chaffee) who has 14-15-29. Right behind that trio are seven other Dutchwomen who have double digit points. Freshman forward
Kate Gustafson (Kenora, ONT/Beaver Brae) leads the group with 8-21-29.
Union's defense is anchored by freshman goaltender Dana Smullyan (Salisbury, CT/Millbrook School), who has an overall
record of 9-10-1 with a save percentage of .873 and a goals against average of 3.89.
This will be Union's last year at the Division III level as they move up to Division I status for the 2003-04 season. The Dutchwomen will play 34 games next year, starting with an October 11 contest with Quinnipiac and ending on March 6 at St. Lawrence.