Michigan State Division I Women’s Hockey team is coming off an unexpected, but exciting season.  The team captured its first CCWHA Championship in school history, beating Robert Morris 1-0 in the championship game.

“Some would say we were a blue collar team,” said head coach Jeff Wilson. “We didn’t have a lot of star performance and we weren’t expected to win.”

“We knew last year was going to be extremely difficult, but for us to win that league championship was amazing,” said Wilson.

The season came to an end, the locker room was cleared and girls headed back to their respective hometowns, but Wilson was just getting ready for his offseason schedule.

Although women’s hockey is a club sport, Wilson and the rest of the coaching staff do a lot of recruiting throughout the summer.

“We recruit pretty heavy, and all over North America really,” said Wilson. “We almost never lose a girl we want, unless there is some extenuating circumstances that come up, which are mainly financial.”

After a long summer of recruiting and evaluating tryouts in September, Wilson and his squad are excited for what hopes to be another successful season in East Lansing.

“We’re really looking to see how these girls can perform on the ice,” said Wilson. “To be honest, I’m really looking forward to some teams being surprised by us when we step on the ice.”

David Defever is the host of Behind the Mask for Impact Sports.

Photo: David Defever