Winter is just around the corner and no one is more prepared than the Suffolk University women’s ice hockey team. After winning the Commonwealth Coast Conference championship two years ago, this team wants more than ever to make it farther.
Head coach Abby Ostrom has returned for a second season with the team. Last year, she started her first season pretty late in the year, named the head coach in August 2023. This left her with no time to recruit or truly connect with the girls. To make matters worse, assistant coach Kevin Harrington did not meet the team until the exhibition game last year.
While Ostrom acknowledges that last season was fun, she said it was a hectic time as well. There have been noticeable changes from the last season to this upcoming one since Ostrom was able to recruit and connect with the players on a deeper level.
“It’s just different. You have a year of experience with everyone, at least the returners,” said Ostrom.
The rapport does not end with the returning players though. The connection between coach and player runs strong with the new recruits as Ostrom was able to recruit them herself, being able to build that connection through the recruitment process and over the summer.
Even the other players are noticing it. Samantha Molind, a senior and captain this year, mentioned noticing the change, too.
Molind said that the freshman girls clicked right away and are “super smart hockey-wise” which should make for a great season. The team believes it helps that the team often hangs out off the ice, having team dinners and movie nights.
“Not just [good] players, good people, too,” said Molind, referring to the newcomers that Ostrom brought in.
As for Molind, this is her first season as a team captain and she is more than ready to help Ostrom lead the Rams to victory. This will be her fourth year and she is feeling better going into this season than last year. Molind plans to use her role as captain to try and be more involved with leadership and to provide support for Ostrom when it comes to leading.“I’m more of a quieter person, so I try to lead by example,” Molind said.
When it comes to guiding the team, Ostrom takes a different approach depending on what she thinks the team needs at the time. She strongly feels that the girls feed off her energy, which allows her to be really in tune with them. Sometimes that is a motivational speech, but it purely depends on what she feels the team needs during the game or in that moment.
Ostrom has clear goals for the team and she foresees them coming true. Despite this, she does not stop pushing them to be better. She acknowledges their improvements but also lets them know where they can still improve. That level of balance is what allows the team to compete at the level that they do.
“My expectations and my goals for this program are high,” said Ostrom.
When asked about her coach, Molind had nothing but rave reviews. She feels this year’s team is more receptive to learning new skills and changing from their old ways to improve the team as a whole. She attributes this change to the way Ostrom coaches the team. Molind has a lot of trust in the team, but also Ostrom.
“It shows on the ice with her as well, just like the confidence she has developed over the year with coaching us,” said Molind.
When asked about superstitions, Molind denied having any, though offered up that she always puts her left gear on before her right. Ostrom, on the other hand, switches out her coats depending on how the games end. If the team wins, the coat gets worn to the next game. If they lose, it gets traded out.
The excitement and expectations have been set for this team and the season is quickly approaching. While Ostrom did not want to be too confident and jinx the whole season, but with so much faith in her team it was hard for her not to exude it.
“I don’t think there’s a huge gap, per se, of what separated us from being a winning team,” Ostrom said. “But, that’s where I’m excited this year because I think we’ve closed the gap.”
