Girls hockey: Summerfield has given Austin a scoring and passing threat
Published 8:35 pm Wednesday, November 26, 2014
The Packer girls hockey team is off to its best six-game start since the 2007-2008 season and junior Chloe Summerfield is a big reason for that.
Austin junior Chloe Sumerfield has given the Packers a boost this season. — Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Summefield has given the Packers (4-1-1 overall) a big-time play-maker on the ice and she’s played a part in 20 of Austin’s 33 goals this season.
“She’s a really good play-maker,” Austin head coach Brett Vesel said. “She handles the puck really well and she’s got great speed. She’s not only able to score, she also sets other players up. She’s very valuable to the team.”
Summerfield has been Austin’s primary goal scorer in past years, but this year she’s some of her teammates — like first line mates Madison Overby and Myia Hoium are stepping up their games. That allows Summerfield to be a scorer and a distributor as she has 10 goals and 10 assists this season.
“We didn’t really know what to expect coming from last year. We’ve been doing pretty well and we’ve been pushing hard in practice,” Summerfield said. “Our second line has really stepped it up and they’re scoring some goals. It’s a lot more fun to play right now.”
The Packers have also had solid goal-tending from Mara Overby and Allison Hoban as they’ve allowed just 12 goals in six games. As a whole the team is already better off than it was at the end of last season.
“We’re way ahead of where we were last year at the end of the season already,” Vesel said. “We just have to continue to want to get better at some of the things that are tough to do like playing defense and back-checking.”
Summerfield is also a keeper on the Austin girls soccer team and she wants to play either hockey or soccer in college. She said she’ll make her choice depending on what sport is more available to her at the next level and what she feels like doing in the future.
Despite the fact that she’s been playing major varsity minutes since she was a freshman, Summerfield is not resting on her laurels. She’s always trying to improve as a player.
“I definitely try to challenge myself.” she said. “My line mates and goalies usually do a summer team so we can get more experience. I think that helps a lot.”
The Packers will play in the Willmar tournament Nov. 28 and Nov. 29