The Keene State College women’s club hockey team looks to continue its momentum and better the program for the future in the midst of a two-game winning streak.

After a big win against Plymouth State in its recently, the women’s hockey team is feeling confident at the moment, currently on the team’s first winning streak in its three-year history.

Head Coach for the KSC women’s hockey team, Drew Arsenault said, “We’re happy. First couple of games were a little down, but winning two games, and especially beating Plymouth State, a big rival to Keene State, was a big win for us.”

Women’s club hockey player Lauren Roche said the team is “pretty excited” about the current win-streak.

“I think we’re really starting to play well together because we’re getting used to each other so it’s going well,” Roche said.

Last season, the women’s squad only had around 12 players while only logging one win on its record. This season the team is 2-2 to open with over 20 players, adding depth to its roster.

Fellow teammate Maggie McNamara spoke about the importance of the teams depth and will help them keep their lines together throughout the season.

“Having consistent lines is really going to help,” McNamara said.  “We weren’t really able to do that last year with the lack of girls playing.”

Both players agreed that, in addition to their roster depth, overall chemistry and experience playing together as a team has contributed to their success greatly.

Roche said that since some of the players have already played together from last year, they have been able to coalesce more easily.

“There’s a lot of freshman and a lot of them are friends outside of the team,” Roche added. “We’re starting to get to know them better too so I think everyone just knows each other better and it shows on the ice too.”

While the team tries to come together more, there have been setbacks. Mainly, the delayed installation of Keene Ice, which is expected to be finished at the end of the month and ready for use by the first week of December.

The team currently plays their home games and practices in Winchendon, Massachusetts, 30 minutes away from campus.

This inconvenience has caused nearly half of the players on the team to miss their scheduled Monday practices due to classes, school work and other scheduling complications.

Coach Arsenault also said  having to travel to Winchendon for practices and home games has been difficult and is excited for the long awaited Keene Ice arena for the teams benefit and their fans as well.

Arsenault added that he wants to see their fans come out and watch their home games, but the distance has limited fan support and, when the new ice arena opens, the team expects a larger turnout.

As far as the future of women’s hockey at KSC, Arsenault said the team is growing, and with the new rink in place the program will only improve.

Arsenault added, “The more wins you have, the more recognition you get…the more teams you’re out there playing, you’re going to get more visibility and more people are going to want to come play here.”

When asked about the possibility of a Division III women’s hockey program being added in addition to the current club team, Arsenault said, “I definitely think that’s the goal. I think both the men’s and women’s programs want to get towards a Division III program. Right now that seems down the road a little bit.”

The Owls lost 5-1 against UMass Dartmouth on Saturday November 14 with their lone goal coming from Caroline Hird. The team had a game on Sunday against MIT that was rescheduled for a later date.

Nick can be contacted at ntocco@kscequinox.com