PRINCETON captain Kate Monihan describes 6-1 victory over Providence College as a ‘huge confidence boost’ and of her hopes to inspire the future generation through the Friendship Series.
This is the third time the tournament, which is the only NCAA hockey tournament to be held outside America, has been organised and the first since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Tigers were the 6-1 victors thanks to two goals from Issy Wunder and Sarah Paul with Gabby Kim and Fillier also netting.
The two game series has been broadcast live in the United States on NESN and is considered one of the highlights of the collegiate calendar.
Speaking to us after, the defender stated: “It’s a great team win, we got all of our lines in today, all of our players were producing. Our first line had five points across the board and we got a couple of goalies in there.
“Everyone looked brilliant and it’s nice to have that momentum and we’ll have to continue that for our second game.
“It’s a huge confidence boost. We ended the first half of the season with a really strong game and, even though the result didn’t go our way before we came here, we had a lot of confidence. To be able to build on that and come here and be as strong meant a lot to us.
“The fans brought a tonne of energy, and we were able to feed off that and keep going. The amount of fans is something we’re not used to back home. Sometimes we’ll get a packed crowd when friends and other students come to the game, but we’ve never had this many kids come and watch us play.
“It was a privilege to play in front of them and to show all the young girls what women’s hockey looks like and give them something to aspire for in the future.
“Our goal is to inspire that next generation and we have seen that hockey in Belfast means a lot to the community. I was talking to a Belfast coach yesterday and he said about wanting to make women’s hockey a bigger presence here. So, our hope with this series is to get girls excited about the game and show them it can be a fun game to play.
“I love Belfast – it has a lot of charm and is super quaint. I’ve done a lot of wandering and exploring the city and I just love the culture, and everyone has been welcoming.
“The goal was to come out of this weekend with two wins and then get to enjoy Belfast after that and share a Guinness with my friends!”
