Archive for category: Quinnipiac Chronicle

By Jordan Novack, Associate Sports Editor                Link to Original

Last season, Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey had its most successful season in program history. After going 26-9-3, and winning the ECAC Hockey regular season title, the Bobcats would go on to lose to Harvard in the national tournament. Despite the success, Quinnipiac would undergo a coaching change on Apr. 9, as officials from the school approached former coach Rick Seeley with several allegations, including that he had yelled at a student on the hockey team and grabbed her by her helmet chin strap.

Following the dismissal of Seeley, Cassandra Turner would be named the interim head coach, and has since been named full-time head coach.

Instead of having the change in leadership be a transitional period for the team, the Turner era has gotten off to a smooth start as the Bobcats are currently 4-0-1 on the season. For Turner, success is like second nature, as she has achieved it since her playing career at Brown.

During her four-year stint with the Bears, Turner won two Ivy League and two ECAC championships, as well as appearing in two NCAA Tournament National Championship games. Turner credits her time playing at Brown under head coach Margaret Murphy as what laid the foundation for her coaching style.

“[Murphy] really taught me how to get the most out of myself and find ways to reach further, and really challenge myself to not only be the best player I can, but to be the best person I can be,” Turner said. “It is that fundamental identity that she instilled into that program that there is always more, that has most helped shape who I am as a coach.”

Turner also credits Murphy for guiding her and fellow teammate, and current Princeton assistant, Cara Morey toward becoming coaches.

“[Murphy] used to make jokes during my time there all the time calling [Morey] and I coaches in training, and would include us in on conversations that you would usually not include your players in, like ‘How would you defend this faceoff?’ or ‘What would you do in this situation?’” Turner explained. “I really enjoyed thinking about the game that way, so my coaches–even when I was a player–were asking me to take on added responsibilities.”

Turner said the extra responsibilities would finally help her realize she wanted to be a coach. The main experience Turner credits is when the Brown coaching staff entrusted her to teach a teammate, who had played for the US National team as a forward, how to become a defender.

Photo Courtesy of Quinnipiac Athletics

While the emergence of Turner may have surprised a few people, Quinnipiac Director of women’s ice hockey operations Paul Nemetz-Carlson has been one of Turner’s biggest advocates. A member of the Quinnipiac coaching staff for 13 years over two tenures, Nemetz-Carlson would give Turner her first coaching job, as a graduate assistant, at Division III Elmira College while Nemetz-Carlson was the head coach.

While at Elmira, Turner would again be a part of success, as the Soaring Eagles would reach a national semi-final, as well as win a Division III national championship. Nemetz-Carlson feels that Turner’s coaching instincts have been present since this inaugural coaching job,

“Her personality, her ability to connect to people, be it motivate or push them, or even her pedigree as a player, both during her career for Brown and with the Canada international team, all spoke in great volume about her,” Nemetz-Carlson said. “Not all great players become great coaches though, but everyone who spoke to Cass could tell you how different she was, and how differently she looked at the game than most people.”

Turner’s skill as a coach, especially on the defensive end, has been apparent throughout her tenure with Quinnipiac. This was especially prevalent last season, as a Turner-led defense would allow a mere 45 total goals throughout the season, the fewest in all of Division I hockey.

“Not only did we have the fewest goals in the nation, we allowed 100 fewer shots than any other team in the country,” Turner said. “We really stress holding onto possession, how we attack, and working on getting the puck back quickly.”

Turner attributes the team’s stringent defense to the attention to detail her players possess, as well as the culture of the locker room.

“It isn’t just me either, we will be between periods and I will hear girls on our team saying ‘come on everyone, zero shots allowed for the period,’ and whenever you have players that will take that on to themselves, you know you are in a good place with a winning culture.”

One way in which Turner instills this attention to detail in her players is by preaching the importance of hustle stats. Turner discussed the importance the team places on winning each period as its own game, measuring shots allowed vs shots taken, and keeping the team’s penalty minutes for the game under six total minutes.

“It was really cool to average six minutes or fewer of penalties per game a couple of seasons ago. It was an NCAA record previously, then we squashed it, when we averaged 4.3 penalty minutes per game over all of last season,” Turner said. “That number seems unattainable now, but if we keep our penalty minutes under six, and maintain our penalty kill, which is over 90 percent, we should find similar defensive success this season.”

A key area in which Turner has been able to aid the team in reaching these unheralded levels of success, is in her skills as a recruiter. Since taking over as the program’s recruiting director, Turner has been directly involved with the recruitment of 13 players who have gone on to win All-ECAC honors, such as captain Cydney Roesler.

While playing under Turner for Hockey Canada, Roesler was given a two week crash course in Turner as both a person and a coach over the two week tournament. Roesler said Turner’s enthusiasm to not only win, but to make everyone around her better was the major driving force that led Roesler to Hamden.

While working against Turner at Yale and then with Turner at QU, Nemetz-Carlson has seen Turner both as an ally and as an enemy when it comes to recruiting. Carlson described how Turner has a way of showing recruits how much she cares about them.

“She has a tremendous emotional intelligence that really helps her connect with people, and understand their needs,” Nemetz-Carlson said. “Her ability to articulate a vision for what we are trying to do has been really successful. With that competitive nature, it has helped us attract top tier players who are a good fit for the program both on and off the ice.”

Nemetz-Carlson went on to explain that the main quality that everyone in the program shares, is a dedicated vision of working hard, and winning the national championship that has thus far alluded them.

Roesler also described the perception her and her teammates have of Turner, both as a coach and as a mentor.

“Everyone knows that Cass understands so much about hockey, that we appreciate every piece of advice she gives us. It helps because every day we know as players we are going to get better under her,” Roesler said. “Off the ice, she is someone we can open up to and get along with. She is very big on having a very good relationship both on and off the ice, and I think that is really going to help us with chemistry both on and off the ice.”

So far through the team’s first five games, you could hardly tell there was a coaching change this offseason. Turner talked about what has made her transition so seamless and “fun,” but also pointed out where she wants improve.

“I am truly honored to have this position, and humbled to be a part of a program like this,” Turner said. “The support we have in terms of not only financial backing but in people makes the transition so easy and fun, and has put me in a place to be successful immediately.”

As for the rest of the season, Turner’s goal for the team is for them to figure out how to play their best hockey each day. Along the way to achieving this goal, Turner believes the team’s true potential will reveal itself, although she admits there are lofty goals in their crosshairs.

“There is no question our kids want to win a championship, and that is their goal,” Turner said. “As we progress, the first thing they want is an ECAC regular season championship, and from there we will see where it goes.”

By Jordan Novack, Associate Sports Editor                Link to Original

There are few more decorated freshman in college hockey this season than Melissa Samoskevich.

A 5-foot-4 winger with a fierce left-handed shot, Samoskevich possesses insane amounts of natural talent. From her burning speed, her ability to use her body to protect the puck, and a viciously quick release, the Connecticut native has all of the natural abilities to be an offensive force at the collegiate level.

In her young career, Samoskevich has shown a penchant for using these skills. An alumna of Minnesota’s Shattuck St. Mary’s, whose hockey program has standout alumni including Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Toews, Samoskevich scored 94 points (56 goals, 38 assists) in her 50 career games. That total was a full 40 points more than any of her other teammates. While in Minnesota, she served as captain of a Sabre’s team who boasted 16 fellow Division one hockey commits.

Another place that Samoskevich has shined is when she played for the United States national team. Throughout her tenure playing for the U.S., Samoskevich has shown great versatility, thriving as both a defender and as a forward in various competitions. As part of the 2015 U.S. under-18 World Championship team in Buffalo, Samoskevich’s tournament-high six goals and two assists would help lead the team to a gold medal. Following the tournament, she was named to the Media All-Star team.

Jordan Novack|Quinnipiac Chronicle              Samoskevich carries the puck against Colgate 11/06/15

Samoskevich would continue her international duty this past summer. She was named an alternate for the national team’s camp, and eventually would play for the u22 team in the August festival. Samoskevich and Quinnipiac head coach Cassandra Turner both credit this summer of international hockey for helping her have an easier transition to the speed and style of college hockey.

“She is processing things very well, and I think it is a product of her having experiences playing at elite levels,” Turner said. “The biggest difference I think was this summer, for her to have had the opportunity to go to the under 22 national team camp, and compete with girls who have been playing in college already, and to be the only player who hasn’t played in college yet, to be on that team, she had to raise her standard of excellence, and to raise her play.”

Following such a decorated high school and international career, many top tier universities took notice of Samoskevich. Storied programs such as Minnesota, Boston College and Wisconsin offered her scholarships. Yet, she was able to tell immediately that the best school for her was the one closest to home.

“It would have been great to play for a big name school, but for me Quinnipiac is a big name,” Samoskevich said. “Just stepping on campus it instantly felt like home, and the advice I was given was that when you find the right school you will get ‘that’ feeling so I knew this was the place for me. So while I liked the other schools, I knew this was the right fit.”

Despite already leaning toward coming closer to the east for college, following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the Sandy Hook native knew she wanted to play closer to home and her family.

“I knew I wanted to come closer to home, and that I wanted to play on the east coast. I have a brother and sister, who are twins, that had aged out [of the school] that year, and it was really hard for me, because I never got to see them when I was in high school.” Samoskevich detailed.

“It is awesome to get to see them now, because I get to go to see them whenever, and I can go to all of their games. So the Sandy Hook thing really affected us, but in a way that it really brought us all together, and coming home has really helped.”

On the ice, Samoskevich has had a very smooth transition through her first few games. Playing on the second line alongside Emma Woods and former u18 teammate T.T Cianfarano, the trio has been the Bobcats most lethal offensive weapons to start the season.

In the first four games, their line accounted for eight of 13 goals scored. Samoskevich has a goal and five assists on the season.

Samoskevich credits the similar styles of her, Woods and Cianfarano as the key to their early chemistry.

“I think we are all the same player, which has really helped us all out. Off the ice, we all click. I sit next to Woods in the locker room, which is cool because she is our assistant captain and I really look up to her, ” Samoskevich explained. “On the ice, no matter what, there is no screwing around. Whenever we are doing drills we talk about the minor details, and what we need to focus on. We are all creative players who know how to play off each other, and so far it has been awesome.”

As for Cianfarano, she feels the chemistry between the girls is so natural it occurred nearly instantly.

“I actually played with [Samoskevich] with the U.S. u18s, and even though I didn’t play on a line with her, I knew a lot about her, she’s a great girl. When I found out she was coming to Quinnipiac, I was really excited for her to come here, and [Coach Turner] thought we would play well together,” Cianfarano said. “I enjoy playing with her; the chemistry is all natural. You don’t even have to talk, the puck is just always where it needs to be.”

A sophomore who came into Quinnipiac with tons of accolades in her own right, Cianfarano knows plenty about living up to hype. She was the Bobcats leading scorer as a freshman. Now, Cianfarano has saught after taking her new teammate under her wing to ensure Samoskevich has a debut campaign as successful as her’s was last year.

“She came in for summer school, and again [Coach Turner] said we would be a good fit together, so I kinda threw her underneath my wing, and I learned a lot from her, and she learned a lot from me,” Cianfarano said. “She asks a lot of questions which is good. I think ever since she has just been building and learning off it, and she is a better player than she is a year ago, a week ago, even yesterday.”

For Coach Turner, Samoskevich’s seamless transition both on and off of the ice has not come as a surprise.

“Melissa is the type of person that fits into a group immediately. She is fun, personable and really looks after those around her. She didn’t miss a beat, and was instantly a part of this team,” Turner explained. “Clearly she is a really talented hockey player, but this is why we were so excited to have her be part of the team. She has great character and really puts the team first.”

Samoskevich, who originally committed to Quinnipiac while Rick Seeley was still the coach, loves the style of Turner, the new coach. Samoskevich credits the atmosphere that Turner and the coaching staff create, as making her time in Hamden so pleasureable thus far.

“Coach Turner is awesome. I get along with all of my teammates, but I knew I would going in because of the type of person [Coach Turner] looks for. One of the main characteristics they look for is how they will fit in with our community.” Samoskevich said. “I love playing for Coach Turner.”

Despite this being her freshman season, Woods feels that Samoskevich has fit right into the team, and plays beyond her age.

“She doesn’t even seem like she’s a freshman,” Woods said. “She’s really comfortable around the other girls, and is already being asked to play a large roll, and leads by example. She’s a great leader for the other freshman, and even some of the older girls. She is a really great hockey player.”

Despite only being on a line together for the last two weeks, Woods has also noticed playing alongside Samoskevich brings out the best in her game.

“Just knowing her skill level, it makes me want to play a bigger role with her,” Woods explained, “It makes me work harder, because I know what level she is at, and it makes me want to work to get there with her.”

As for the rest of the season, Turner has conservative expectations for her young forward, despite the hot start.

“She is in a good position right now,” Turner said. “Whenever she scores and contributes it is a bonus, we are not putting pressure to be that kid right now. Between players like T.T Cianfarano, Emma Woods, Nicole Connery, and Nicole Kosta, we have people who can put the puck in the net.”

Turner believes that Samoskevich’s main goal for the season should be acclimating to the style of the college game.

“That time will come when there will be an expectation for score, but for now our expectation is for her to play college hockey hockey at our level and our pace, as well as to play from the defensive side of the game to our expectations.”

While the season might still be early, Melissa Samoskevich is well on her way to exceeding those expectations, and becoming a force for Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey.