‘Just Play!’
With perfect skating conditions, the women’s hockey team takes its practice outdoors to Johnson Pond
There were no blue lines, red lines, or scoreboards at the women’s ice hockey practice Monday. Nets, penalty boxes, and boards were nowhere to be seen.
Rather, the Mules—owners of a 7-2 record—took to Johnson Pond on a clear, cold January day to skate in the sunshine and have a little fun.
“Very few college campuses have the opportunity to play outdoor hockey,” said Head Coach Holley Tyng. “Pond hockey really brings it back to the basics, no rink, no lines, and no rules. Just play!”
A line of discarded sneakers, eschewed for skates, split the pond into two smaller rinks. Traffic cones served as goals, and the roster was split into four teams based on the geographic origin of the players—Team Mass, Team Midwest, Team Mid-Atlantic and Beyond, and Team Lake Effect. Team Mass won, but with an asterisk because of a disputed goal.
The tournament produced a winter soundtrack. Without walls and a roof, each puck drop, stick slam, or skate cut produced a staccato that punctured the 20-degree air, and then vanished just as quickly as it came. Distant laughter from children skating on the opposite side of the pond mixed with triumphant yelps of joy from the players as the sun dipped behind the trees on Mayflower Hill.
“It was a day I think we’ll all remember because the conditions were so good and we got to experience the fun with our closest friends and teammates,” said Tyng, whose team kicks off a lengthy stretch of NESCAC games with a trip to Hamilton College on Friday.
