Series Notes - The Lindenwood women's hockey team opens the 2015-16 season this Saturday and Sunday against Minnesota Duluth. Game times are 2 p.m. for each game at the Lindenwood Ice Arena in Wentzville, Mo.
- Led by head coach
Scott Spencer, the Lady Lions will look to build upon last season's program record 10 victories. Prior to Lindenwood, Spencer was the Director of Female Hockey at Pursuit of Excellence for two years. He has NCAA women's assistant coaching experience at Robert Morris and Ohio State.
- Lindenwood is starting its fifth year as a NCAA program, and its fourth season as a member of College Hockey America (CHA). The Lady Lions finished fifth in their first three seasons of play in the CHA.
- Minnesota Duluth hosted Lindenwood last season, winning both games and giving them a 2-0 advantage in the all-time series. The Bulldogs were victorious in the first matchup by a score of 3-1, and the second contest 6-2.
- Minnesota Duluth finished the 2014-15 season with a record of 20-12-5, and a No. 10 national ranking. The Bulldogs fell in the opening round of last season's WCHA tournament to Bemidji State.
Lindenwood Notes- Redshirt sophomore defenseman
Tae Otte will serve as the captain for the 2015-16 Lady Lions. The alternative captains are senior defenseman
Brooke Peden, senior forward
Shara Jasper, and senior goalie
Nicole Hensley.
- A top returning player for the Lady Lions is goalie
Nicole Hensley. Hensley was a first-team all-CHA selection last season. She has led the CHA in saves for three-consecutive seasons, including making 1,198 saves in 2013-14, the third-most in NCAA Division I history for a single season.
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Nicole Hensley has tallied 3,147 saves for her career, a mark surpassed by only 11 other goalies in NCAA history.
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Shara Jasper is the top offensive player returning from last season which saw her earn first-team all-CHA honors. Jasper tallied 27 points last season, tying for the team lead, while also ranking first in assists with 16. Her 11 goals ranked second on the team.
- The Lady Lions return an experienced defensive unit that features their top-six contributing players from one year ago. The returners are seniors
Rachel Weich and
Brooke Peden, juniors
Carrie Atkinson and
Katie Nokelby, and sophomores
Tae Otte and
Xylia Lang.
- Lindenwood has six true freshmen this year in
Jolene deBruyn,
Carla Goodwin,
Ally Larson,
Tirra Lemoine,
Shannon Morris-Reade, and
Corbin Welsh. Goodwin, Morris-Reade, and Larson are all from British Columbia. deBruyn and Welsh hail from Alberta, while Lemoine comes from Manitoba.
- Twelve of the 21 Lady Lions come from the United States, while the other nine are from Canada. The most popular states/provinces are five from Minnesota and three each for Alberta and British Columbia. Lindenwood has one local player as
Rachel Weich is from St. Charles, Mo.
- Senior defenseman
Brooke Peden and
Rachel Weich are both approaching the 100 games played milestone during their careers at Lindenwood. Peden has appeared in 99 games as a Lady Lion, while Weich has dressed for 98 contests.
- Lindenwood was picked fifth in the preseason College Hockey America coaches poll. The Lady Lions went 7-11-2 in league action last year.
- Lindenwood will be in action again on Oct. 2-3 with a two-game home series versus Ohio State University.
