LADY COLLEGIANS

by Richard Graham

Numbers don’t always tell the story.

Of the 643 registered players at the recent National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association’s National Championships, only three were women. However, the impact that Megan Gault, Brittany Johnson and Heather Tackett had on their teams this season was big.

Gault, 19-year-old sophomore from Denton, TX, went 8-2-1 for the Lindenwood University Gold Lions in the B Division of the Great Plains Collegiate Inline Hockey League this season. She had a 2.43 goals-against average, a save percentage of .840, and threw three shutouts. Gault, who is majoring in communications, also plays in minor division of the Professional Inline Hockey Association for the St. Peters Wheelers in St. Peters, MO.

“Megan played very well for us all year,” said Lindenwood Coach Jon Hilke. “She was very consistent in goal and you always knew what you were going to get.”

Gault started playing roller hockey in 1999, the year that the Dallas Stars won the Stanley Cup.

“I started playing ice about two years after that,” Gault said. “I had never actually watched much hockey, but when my stepdad married my mom, we started going to more Stars’ games. I remember watching the sport and thinking it was just constant action and just so exciting, and should be a fun game to play, too. I got a flier at school about a rink that had just opened up in town, so I went and tried and I got hooked.”

Her mother didn’t think Gault’s infatuation with hockey would last.

“When I came home with this flier about hockey, she bought me this really cheap equipment,” Gault said.

But Gault did stick with inline hockey, and after skating out for two years because Mike Modano was her idol, she switched to goaltender. This year, Gault backstopped the Lion’s 4-3 win in their Great Plains Collegiate Inline Hockey League championship game, played a month before the NCRHA finals.

“She really stood out against tougher opponents, as in our regional championship game against University of Missouri - St. Louis,” said Coach Hilke.

In the NCRHA Finals, Gault split goaltending duties with teammate Andrew Cornish in the Lions’ opening game, a 10-0 win over Saddleback College. After a 4-3 loss to Michigan State, the Lions won four straight games – a 7-0 pasting of Penn State (Gault’s teammate Andrew Cornish got the shutout); an 8-7 overtime win over West Chester (in which Gault started and Cornish came on in relief); a 4-3 win over Buffalo; and an 8-2 win in the championship game, both with Cornish in net. It was the Lions sixth straight national title. Thought Gault was disappointed not to play in the championship game, she was positive about sharing goaltending duties with Cornish.

“Oh, he’s great,” Gault said. “I remember when we first met. There were a couple of people that didn’t think too much of me, and they didn’t really like it. Andy actually used to give me crap all the time, said I was just lucky and stuff. But now we’re good buds and we respect each other. I’m glad to have him here because he’s always positive.”

“The other players on the team treated her just like any other teammate,” said Coach Hilke. We all had the same goals all year and they really came together as one.”

Brittany Johnson, a 21-year-old senior from Deerfield Beach, FL, played defense for the Division II Florida Atlanta University Owls in the tournament. During the 2008-2009 regular season, Johnson, 5’7, 155 pounds, scored seven goals and nine assists for 16 points in 13 games for the Owls. In the NCRHA Finals, the Owls won two games and lost two, and were knocked out of the tournament by Missouri State, despite having defeated the Bears in their previous game.

Asked what it was like to be the only woman on the team, Johnson said, “The guys are my buds. They do nutty things, but they treat me the same way they treat each other.”

Heather Tackett, a 20-year-old nursing sophomore from Laguna Niguel, CA, plays defense for the B Division Saddleback Gauchos. I interviewed her while she was working the gate at the bench for the Junior College Gauchos’ team that was in the process of winning its championship game -- upsetting Gaucho’s coach Jim Irwin as well as an NCRHA official. (Hey, ESPN gets away with it!)

She says that playing with men is not so tough.

“Actually, it’s weird playing with girls; they’re a lot meaner than guys,” Hackett said. “The guys make obscene comments; they act like I’m one of the guys.”

The B Division Gauchos had a tougher go of it in the tournament, losing to Lindenwood Gold, 10-0; Penn State, 11-2; Michigan State, 9-4; and West Chester, 8-4.

“We got the hardest pool and didn’t win any games,” Tackett said. “But it’s our first year together and we have a very young team – one of our players is just 17.”

Jim Irwin, coach of the B and JC Division Gauchos, had this to say about Tackett.

“I know her pretty well,” Irwin said. “Heather brought a calm to the group; the vibe of the group was different when she was there. During the season, Heather missed a handful of practices, but she was always one of our strongest defenseman come tournament time. Because of this fact, her teammates counted on her and cut her slack about missing practices. As far as ‘how the guys treated her,’ her play and personality commanded respect – not to mention the fact that she’d kick your butt if you didn’t. She’s tough and has shown it time after time.”

What would Tackett tell a girl who was considering playing collegiate roller hockey?

“Guys are idiots,” Tackett said with grin. “Ignore what they say and do what you want.”