November 7, 2006

W. Hockey Looks to Scott for Leadership

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The women’s hockey team’s is back with all the fire and brimstone of a James Joyce novel and who better to lead the squad than senior captain Caroline Scott?

Scott has been a forward on the team the last three years and will be looked to for leadership by head coach Doug Derraugh ’91 who is entering his first season as the full time head coach of the Red. Thus far in 2006, the Red has posted a 1-4-1 (1-1-0 ECACHL) record, with victories coming against the Durham Lightning in an exhibition, and against Brown. With a great deal of season left to be played, Scott feels the young team will gain momentum as the year rolls along.
[img_assist|nid=19662|title=Great Scott|desc=Senior captain Caroline Scott (left) lifts a shot over the stick of a Brown defender during Cornell’s 3-2 win over the Bears on Oct. 27. (G. Scott Russ / Sun Contributor)|link=popup|align=right|width=100|height=72]
“I believe this team has the potential to win the ECAC[HL title],” Scott said. “Some people may say that’s unrealistic based on last season’s results, but I have seen what this team is capable of. Soon enough, I believe this will be reflected in the upcoming games. We just need to play confidently and consistently.”

The Red is coming off consecutive one-goal losses on the road against Wayne State by margins of 4-3 and 3-2, respectively. Cornell is currently 1-1 in conference play, splitting games with Brown and Yale, and this weekend presents interesting match-ups, featuring two difficult road games, at Dartmouth (4-2-0, 4-0-0) and then at Harvard (3-1-0, 3-1-0).

“We lost some games that we should have won,” Scott said. “But unlike past seasons, we now consistently score first and have leads in games. Once we learn how to play confidently with a lead and how to trust our teammates to do their jobs, we will hold onto those leads and expand on them in future games.”

Scott commands a leadership role on the squad, and has a unique perspective of the younger talent. With 12 out of the 23 players on the team are either freshmen or sophomores and Scott knows about playing significant minutes as a youngster. She logged playing time in every game as a freshman, scoring seven goals, which was tied for third on the team.

“All eight freshmen bring new talent especially offensively,” Scott said. “I have had a chance to play on lines with [freshmen Laura] Danforth and [Liz] Zorn, who are both very skilled. We also have new offensive defensemen, such as [Kelly] McGinty and [Melanie] Jue, who will help our team a lot. The sophomores are a very hard working class and [Steph] Ulrich has stepped up as an important defenseman on the power play.”

Looking at the overall strengths and weaknesses for the Red, Scott noted the team’s youth and the players’ need to learn to trust each other. However, Scott expects that to come with time

Scott also noted the addition of two assistant coaches, including Dani Bioldeau ’01, a two-time captain at Cornell who previously coached at Princeton and Kim Insalaco who graduated from Brown in 2001 and won a bronze Olympic medal as part of the U.S. Olympic team in Torino.

“[Insalaco] brings a lot of enthusiasm to the ice,” Scott said.