Women’s club ice hockey debuts, impresses in Knoxville

Clemson women’s ice hockey had never played a game before this month. Since February, the Tigers have put in tireless work behind the scenes to fund a team, build a roster and join a league, culminating in a dominating debut weekend in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Clemson, 3-0-0 College Hockey South, swept Tennessee at the Cool Sports Icearium in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Sept. 6-7. The Tigers took both games of Saturday’s doubleheader, 13-0 and 15-1, before returning the following morning to win, 9-0.

Clemson saw two players recognized in the College Hockey South Week 1 3 Stars of the Week: Nina Molina and Bella Quick.

Molina was awarded the first star after her nine-goal, 12-assist weekend. She scored four points and assisted three times during the series’ third game, accounting for seven out of nine Tiger goals. Quick, the team’s goalie, earned the second star by pitching two shutouts and allowing just one goal, totaling a 0.933 save percentage.

Another key contributor to the team’s success was senior forward Alyssa Laurino, who led the team in goal scoring despite never imagining ice time in college.

“I didn’t even expect to play at all,” Laurino said in an interview with The Tiger. “Then this opportunity came, and I was excited. I hadn’t been on the ice in three years since high school, so I never saw that happening throughout my time at Clemson.”

She shook off the dust quickly, scoring a team-leading 10 goals with an additional eight assists, though it didn’t come easily.

“It’s a little bit of a grind,” Laurino admitted. “It was a 5 a.m. wake-up, and then we played two games, and then you wake up the next day, you play, then you drive home.”

Even with the tough trek, the entire team got into a groove almost impossibly early. In just the second game in Clemson history, the Tigers registered over 100 shots on goal, giving the scoreboard operator some trouble.

So far this season, Clemson is exceeding expectations with a small, tight-knit group. In fact, the team only has 11 rostered players.

Financial struggles are an all too familiar theme in club sports at Clemson. Teams have to be self-sufficient; oftentimes, costs fall on the shoulders of the club athletes.

“Hockey is an expensive sport,” Laurino told The Tiger. “So there were people that showed interest, never played before, didn’t realize the cost of equipment, cost of travel and cost of ice, so that kind of diminished numbers.”

Nevertheless, the club president and founder, Jenna Fireovid, alongside Laurino and Molina, recruited eight other experienced skaters. Fireovid also developed a sponsorship program to address the lack of funding.

Though only three remain available, the club introduced four sponsorship tiers, with contribution levels ranging from $250 to $2,500. The Orange Level, set at a $1,000 donation, includes several benefits: a logo placement on the team banner and website, acknowledgment on social media and verbal recognition during game days, both over the public address system and during live broadcasts, according to the team’s Instagram Page.

The White Level and Purple Tier Level, set at $250 and $500, respectively, offer similar benefits.

Clemson was welcomed into the College Hockey South conference as the 14th women’s team and introduced as an American College Hockey Association Division II team. However, even recognized hockey teams have trouble finding ice time in South Carolina.

For a time, Clemson’s monthly practices were scheduled for 10 p.m. on Fridays at the Pavilion Recreation Complex in Greenville, an hour away from campus. Late-night and distant practices were deal-breakers for a club team that aimed to be successful and low in commitment.

Luckily, the practices were later moved to Fridays at 5:30 p.m.

Clemson will return home to the ice on Oct. 5, facing off against the Georgia Bulldogs at The Pavilion in Greenville. If you can’t go to watch the games in person, don’t worry; the team broadcasts the contests live on YouTube.