FAIRMONT — The Fairmont Area girls hockey team is preparing for the 2023-24 campaign this week.
Coming off a season in which the team finished with a 4-17-3 record, Cardinals head coach Eric Householder provided insight into the team’s and his own goals during the offseason.
“My main expectation is to be a team on and off the ice. That’s something we want to improve on from last year and knowing they’re expected to give everything they have.” I am.” said the landlord. “We’ve had a difficult year with some of our opponents, but this year it’s going to be a little bit of a learning experience because we have a smaller squad.”
One reason for the small roster is that the Cardinals will be without three key players from last season. They will be without second-leading scorer Hannah Gerndt, starting defenseman Kolene Moller and starting goaltender Hadley Ertz, all of whom graduated last spring.
With the loss of a number of experienced players, Fairmont Area will turn to returning leading scorer and senior forward Vera Larson to carry an additional offensive load.
Larson had 11 goals and four assists last season and will look to fellow senior forward Carissa Newbill for support.
As a junior last winter, Newbill was the team’s third leading scorer with five goals and five assists. This season, she will be on the ice with her sister, Vera Newbill, a freshman who plays on the defensive side of the arena.
“I’ve seen some improvement in speed on the ice. Carissa Newbill has been a little more noticeable to me from last year with her increased speed and slightly improved stickhandling from last year to now. Overall, I think the attitude and mentality of the players is where we want them to be.” said the landlord.
Keeping things running within the family, Carissa and Bella will be joined by their father, Josh Newbill, who took on an assistant coaching role with Householder this year.
Coach Hausder, who suffered a loss in such an important position, will be looking to the upperclassmen to step up.
“There’s going to be a bit of a learning curve. You know, we’re down to one goalie and a smaller line, so we’re really looking for our seniors to lead the team throughout the season.” I’m here.” said the landlord. “We have six seniors, so we expect them to lead the rest of the team and show us what we should do and how we should do it.”
Junior Ilana Moller will be in goal for the Cardinals this season. A year ago, as a sophomore, Moller appeared in 16 games and totaled 153 minutes on the ice. She made 87 saves and conceded just 14 goals for a save percentage of 86.1 percent.
Moller will be asked to play twice as many games and play nearly 10 times as many minutes as the Cardinals this season.
As for the team, there aren’t many new faces, but one is junior Charlie Crowe, who hasn’t played in several years and will be returning to the sport. Crowe will play forward for the Cardinals this season.
Fairmont Area women’s hockey will take to the ice for the first time at Martin County Arena on Friday, with the Cardinals facing Mankato West in a non-conference game with the opener scheduled to start at 7 p.m.