For the third straight year, the women’s hockey team made it to the Frozen Four of the NCAA National Tournament. Although the championship title still eluded them, the team is ready to come back stronger than ever next year.

One of the biggest challenges that the team will face next year is finding replacements for the seniors they are losing.

“We have to replace six seniors who have contributed a lot over the years they’ve been here. We have won the conference every year they’ve been here and we have a lot of wins under our belt with those six seniors, so we have to do a good job of recruiting [for next year],” Head Coach Michael Carroll said.

“The core of our team needs to continue to be hungry and work hard to improve. It won’t get any easier because it’s a sport that is still evolving and still growing. Each year a player comes back, the other teams are also getting better and stronger. That’s a tough mental roadblock at times to understand,” Coach Carroll said.

Over the past three years, Gustavus has been the only team in the Western region, which includes Minnesota and Wisconsin schools, to make it to the Frozen Four. Senior Mollie Carroll said that even though the team is 0-6 in the past three years in the Frozen Four, just getting there is an amazing accomplishment.

“The first year I was [in the Frozen Four], we got kind of blown out by these teams, and then the two games this year we lost in overtime, so I definitely think we’ve proven that we deserve to be there. The next couple years will be fun to watch because I think we can get even further,” Mollie Carroll said.

First-year Carolyn Draayer said that the whole experience of going to the Frozen Four was exciting. Among the perks the team received was their own charter plane both to and from New York, courtesy of the NCAA.

“[Next year] we really want to get back out there and try to win our first National Championship. I don’t think our games showed our team’s skill level, if you just look at the end results. They don’t accurately represent how good we are, just to be fourth place, even though it’s really good to get to the Frozen Four. I think that we are all motivated to get back out there and show the East Coast teams that we can beat them,” Draayer said.

According to Draayer and Mollie Carroll, the team was disappointed to come home without a championship title. From the beginning of the season their goal had been to win the championship, so the trip to New York was both exciting and dissatisfying.

“After [we lost], we were pretty sad because our whole goal this year was to win the National Championship. We’ve been there three years in a row and we know what’s going on, so we are sick of losing. So right after it happened we were kind of disappointed, but when you look back on the amazing success we’ve had the last three years, that’s a good thing,” Mollie Carroll said.

There are many factors that make a team as successful as the Gustavus women’s hockey team. According to Draayer, there is unity and talent on the team, but the girls also put in a lot of hard work, which is something that she feels sets the Gusties apart from other teams.

Coach Carroll credits the athletes, the coaching staff and Gustavus for the success of the team.

“There’s a lot of reasons [we are so successful]. I think the players make the team and they decide at the beginning of the year what the goals are going to be. Gustavus is such a great school that it makes it easy to recruit kids to play for our school. Having such a nice facility here on campus certainly doesn’t hurt either,” Coach Carroll said.

Coach Carroll said that having his niece Mollie Carroll on the team has been an extra special experience. Mollie Carroll said that as a captain, her goal is to lead by example and work extra hard in practice.

“It’s sad to see the seniors go because they have provided a ton of leadership for us this season,” Draayer said.

Many memories surround such a successful team and Mollie Carroll said that these are memories that she will cherish forever.

For Coach Carroll, the most important memories are of the success the team has had.

“Knowing that we had a chance to compete to be the best team in the country, whether it worked out or not, and we did what we needed to do to get there is a great feeling. We will just keep working hard,” Coach Carroll said.