Seniors Amanda Ghysel and Taylor Hadley met freshman year and discovered that they shared a passion for playing ice hockey. From that point on, they worked together to start the very first women’s ice hockey team at Loyola.
By the end of their sophomore years, Amanda and Taylor had accumulated a list of girls interested in playing; the only problem was that nothing was concrete in terms of where and how they would practice.
Amanda and Taylor returned to Loyola after studying abroad in the 2013 fall semester and decided that this was “crunch time” because they only had one year left at Loyola. After reaching out to the list of interested players, contacting ice rinks and Club Sports and talking to the captain of the Towson women’s ice hockey team, they had gained some momentum. The captain of Towson’s team recommended joining the league that they play in, the Delaware Valley Collegiate Hockey Conference.
After reaching out to the league, the president shared advice for getting ice, recruiting and fundraising with Amanda and Taylor.
“It was really nice to have resources and people who were cheering for us and who wanted it to work for us,” Amanda said. Amanda and Taylor’s determination and hard work paid off as their team was unanimously voted into the DVCHC league. After becoming a member of the league, Loyola announced women’s ice hockey as an official club sport. Amanda cited the process as being stressful but rewarding.
In their league, Loyola will face fellow DVCHC Division 1 North foes Rutgers, UPENN, Villanova and Towson. There will also be a Maryland State Title competition between the four teams in the league from the state; Loyola, Towson, Navy and Maryland. Loyola will also have the opportunity to send players to the All-Star game on pro ice.
“I’m excited. We’re all pretty good,” said Taylor Hadley. The team has been practicing for about a month now and has played three games thus far.
“It was really exciting because the first week of October was the first time any of us had stepped foot on the ice together,” Amanda said.
Taylor spoke about the depth to their roster: “everyone brings different things to the table; we have well-rounded defensive players, pretty good offensive players, a couple standout shooters and skaters. It all has turned out to work well.”
Hockey has been a part of Amanda’s and Taylor’s lives for as long as they can remember. They both learned how to skate as soon as they could walk. Their main goal for this season is to have fun.
“I want to soak it all in, because it’s our one and only season here, and we’re playing because of us,” said Amanda.
“It’s exciting to get to know everybody and be on a team again,” Taylor said. “The team aspect really brings everyone together.”
Amanda and Taylor met as strangers in their freshman writing class. But when they graduate in May, they will be teammates and captains of Loyola’s first women’s ice hockey team.
