Miami Ohio University Athletics
Captains' Corner
11/18/2011 12:00:00 AM | Hockey
Nov. 17, 2011
Captains' Corner is a weekly update from a captain or leader of one of the RedHawks' 19 teams that will run every other Thursday throughout the academic year. Today's update is from ice hockey co-captain Will Weber. Will is a senior from Gaylord, Mich., who played juniors for the Chicago Steel in the USHL. He is a supply chain and operations management major. Check back on Dec. 1 for the next edition of Captains' Corner with the women's swimming team.
For the past three years, I have experienced a lot of success as a member of the Miami Ice Hockey Team. Each year we started out playing fairly strong. This year, as senior captain in my final year at Miami, the season started off differently, and a lot slower.
The month of October was rough as we went 2-6 in the first eight games. When we were losing games consecutively, players gripped their sticks a little tighter and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to play well and win. The team's slow start could have been somewhat expected; with eight freshmen on the team, it takes time, especially in hockey, for guys to get comfortable with each other. When you're faced with a situation like this, the only thing you can do is show up at the rink every day, work hard and improve.
At the start of this month, we decided as a team that we would leave October in the past and start fresh in November. With a trip to Fairbanks, Alaska to play the Nanooks, this was the perfect opportunity to turn things around. We were able to grind out two 2-1 wins, and this gave the team the confidence we needed.
Returning to Miami, the next week in practice everyone was a lot looser and you could see guys really starting to come together. This past weekend we had two solid performances against the University of Michigan. The first game we won, 2-1, and the second game we won in an intense shootout. Michigan is always a perennial powerhouse and it was a lot of fun as both nights The Goggin was packed and loud with fans. It was a great two nights for us.
This weekend will be another huge weekend as we face Bowling Green and one of our old coaches, Chris Bergeron. I have a ton of respect for Coach Bergeron, he is one of the people that recruited me to come to Miami University and taught me a lot in my first two years. As a top-notch coach, Coach Bergeron will have his team ready to go this weekend, so we'll have to be ready and come out strong.
Hope to see you at the games this weekend,
Will Weber
