Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Athletics

In a few short weeks, my hockey career will be over and I will have to leave the game I love behind, but the memories that will remain are the best I could have asked for. As I reflect back on my hockey career and the memories I have made, I want to thank the people who made my time at Saint Mary’s extremely memorable. When I first heard about Saint Mary’s, it was after my high school hockey game at the Coon Rapids Ice Arena. My head coach at the time came up to me and told me that the Saint Mary’s coach wanted to talk to me. I had never heard of Saint Mary’s before and I was not planning on doing a visit. After my parents and I talked to Coach Moore, they basically forced me to go visit. After walking around campus and seeing the rink, I almost had my mind made up that I wanted to come play hockey at Saint Mary’s. Looking back on that experience, I am so glad my parents made me come for a visit and Coach Moore (G Mo) recruited me to come here. It is crazy to think these four years have already flown by and my hockey career is coming to an end. I want to thanks the many people who had an influence on my hockey career from my days playing youth, high school, and college with my time here as a Cardinal.
    
Family: The first people I want to thank are the ones who have had the most impact on my career, my family. Thank you to my mom and dad for buying all the expensive gear and taking me to all my games and practices during my 16 years playing hockey. As most of you know, hockey is a sport that is played almost all year round and my parents were there to support me every step of the way. I am so grateful for this support during my good moments and my bad moments playing hockey. I would not be the person and player I am today without their consistent love and support. I love you guys and am so thankful for all the sacrifices you made to for me during my years playing hockey. I will always miss seeing you guys in the stands and Dad giving me a thumbs up or yelling at me to pass the puck. You guys made everything possible for me and I will always be thankful for that. I am going to miss talking to you guys after every game but am excited to now sit in the stands next to you and watch Blair and Boden play.
    
To my 4 other siblings: Paige, Austin, Blair, and Boden – Thank you guys for being the most competitive people I have ever met and always pushing me to get better on and off the ice. The fact that many people have told us we are the most competitive family they have ever met could not be more true but I am thankful for this. Shooting pucks in the downstairs garage, racing up the hills in our yard, early morning workouts, skating on the pond each winter, and all the competitions we had are some of my very favorite memories playing hockey and I’m so thankful I was able to play the sport I love with my best friends each winter. Thank you guys for making the long trips to Winona, and Austin for coming over from WSU to come watch me play here, it means more than you know. I couldn’t have had a successful hockey career without you guys supporting me every step of the way.
    
To Blair – Ever since Austin and I started playing hockey, you were right there to catch up with us. Even though you are two years younger, you never missed a beat when it came to playing hockey. From playing in Mites, to U10’s, to U12’s, then high school together were my favorite teams I have ever played on. It was a blessing to be able to play the sport I love with my closest friend and sister. Thank you for all the great memories we have had playing hockey and for all the support. From game day tweets to watching my games and following the stats online—the support you have given me throughout my college career here at Saint Mary’s means more than you know. In U10 we were numbers 14 and 15, now we are 4 and 5, and I will never forget the memories we have made playing together on teams, training together, and playing anytime we could for the love of the game.
    
Coaches:
    
Coach Mannor, I want to thank you for the opportunities you have given me throughout my four years here. Thank you for allowing me be apart of this program for four years, I will never forget the memories and the life lessons I have learned from being a hockey player at Saint Mary’s. I am lucky that I was able to play under a coach who taught me a lot about the game of hockey, but more importantly I learned many life lessons from you that I will always take with me. I truly appreciate the support you have given me during my time here.
    
G Mo, first of all I want to thank you for sticking with me while recruiting me. I know you have said before I had a little bit of an attitude when you first talked to me, but I am thankful you decided to stick with me because you recruiting me to play hockey here is the reason why I came to college at Saint Mary’s. Also, I want to thank you for all you do for our program and the team. Without all the work you put in to every season and the recruiting you do, this program wouldn’t be the same. Thank you for all your support these past 4 years.
    
Jill, and Matt: Thank you for your countless hours and dedication you have put into each and every season for us. I really appreciate everything you guys have done for myself, and more importantly the hockey program in general. Without the help of you both, we would not have been able to have a successful and fun season. Thank you for all the support and time you put in—it does not go unnoticed and it much appreciated.
   
Alumni: I want to thank each and every alumni that I was fortunate enough to play with during my time here at Saint Mary’s. All of the people that were older than me gave me someone to look up to on and off the ice and set a great example for me before my senior year. I am so thankful for the leadership and guidance you guys provided me with during my time here, especially Mary DeBartolo, Kenz Klimek, Bre Peterson, and Haley Coolsaet. Thanks for being great teammates and even better role models.
    
Haley Jung: You are literally the best manager I could have ever asked for!! You have done so much for our team behind the scenes that many people do not see, but it does not go unnoticed! I am so thankful that we were able to have a manager like you to tweet the awesome videos and pictures that you do, and come with to every game and road trip no matter how far. Thank you for putting up with me these past 4 years!!
    
TEAM: I want to thank the most influential people during my time here – All of my sisters who I have been lucky enough to play with. In a few weeks my hockey career will be over and I will only have the memories to look back on. When doing so, I am going to remember all the good times, the laughs, the jokes, and the unforgettable times we have had together both at hockey and outside of the rink. Each and every person I have played with has a different and fun personality and brought different assets to the team on and off the ice. This made the year extremely fun, but also made this years team one of the closest teams I have ever played on. “Your team vs. our family” is a quote that we used a lot this year and it is extremely true when it comes to our team. The love and respect we have for one another is something special and I can truly say you guys are my best friends and biggest support system. Thank you all for the memories and the laughs that are made in the locker room, road trips, team dinners, and more because those are the things that I will miss the most. I want to tell you guys to not take any time at Saint Mary’s for granted, even the hard practices and morning workouts, because it flies by and will be over before you know it. Cherish the time you have left playing hockey and to spend with the team. You guys have made being a part of the Saint Mary’s women’s hockey team all I could have imagined and more. I love you all and am so excited to continue our friendships after we leave Saint Mary’s and especially for everyone’s weddings!! Love you guys and thanks for everything!!