Through six games this season, Clemson women’s club ice hockey has been nothing short of dominant. The Tigers have outscored their opponents 82-5, finding a star in senior Nina Molina.
Hailing from Michigan, Molina played hockey from age 5 to 18. Clemson does not have a Division I ice hockey team, and didn’t have a women’s club team before this season. But after a three-year hiatus, she’s back on the ice.
“It’s fun,” Molina told The Tiger. “It was tough getting back into it. I hadn’t skated in a while, but it’s a lot of fun.”
It has hardly looked tough for her so far this season. Molina, the team’s vice president and center, has scored 21 goals and tallied 16 assists.
Following a 21-point performance in the season-opener series against Tennessee, she was awarded the first star in the College Hockey South Week 1 3 Stars of the Week. Though Clemson did not play another game for the remainder of September, Molina was awarded the second star in the CHS Three Stars of the Month for the women’s division.
The former AAA high school star did not slow down.
Molina recorded a hat trick in the Tigers’ 12-3 win over Georgia on Oct. 5. She would tally 13 more points in the series against Georgia Southern, earning the first star yet again in the CHS Week 8 3 Stars of the Week.
Just one week ago, CHS announced that Molina won the women’s division first star for October.
“It’s pretty cool,” Molina reacted. “It’s tough for me, because I played so competitively my whole life, I expect that of myself. I should be performing well.”
The accolades are nice, though Molina’s sights are set higher.
“Maybe player of the year, I guess,” she said. “I haven’t really thought about it. I just go out there and play. But player of the year, that’d be pretty cool.”
Clemson, 6-0-0 CHS, won’t be hitting the ice for the rest of the fall semester. Once the Tigers finally return, the focus won’t falter.
“For the whole team, I think the goal is just to win every game we have,” Molina said. “USF and Tampa, depending on if we go to the Gasparilla tournament, South Carolina.”
Clemson will return to The Pavilion in Greenville, South Carolina on Jan. 11 to face Georgia once more and on Jan. 24 to square off against South Carolina. The team will livestream those games on YouTube.
Should the Tigers attend, the Gasparilla tournament is from Jan. 30 to Feb. 1 in Tampa, Florida.
