When a freshman has a stellar season, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not unnatural to expect a slight dip the next year. That was the pattern for Sam Faber, the University of New Hampshire forward who is making up for any sophomore lapses — and they were minor — with an outstanding junior year that she is beginning to think will help carry her team to the March promised land.<\/p>\n
This confidence was bolstered by UNH\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s back-to-back wins over then-No. 1 Wisconsin in Durham recently, victories that vaulted the 17-3-0 team (9-0-0 in Hockey East) to the top spot in the national polls. <\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I never saw our team like that,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Faber following the Wisconsin victory. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We were thrilled. Our goal was to win both games. I knew in the locker room we were going to win. We have such great chemistry.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Then on Dec. 14, behind Faber\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s two goals, the Wildcats beat another No. 1 team when they handed Harvard (11-1-0) its first loss of the season.<\/p>\n
Faber said the team was thrilled with the 4-1 Harvard win, especially heading into the break. UNH doesn’t play again until Jan. 5 against Brown. <\/p>\n
“We knew they would come out hard and I guess we were the underdogs being No. 2,” she said. “We wanted to bring all the energy we could.”<\/p>\n
According to Faber, the difference in the game was that the Wildcats capitalized more on their opportunities than Harvard did, although she said the Crimson are definitely one of the top three teams in the country.<\/p>\n
In that game Faber scored twice, the first time in what was to become the game-winner, on an unusual shorthanded breakaway 48 seconds into the second period to give her team a 2-0 lead. Kacey Bellany fired a shot to Faber, who found herself all alone at center ice behind the Crimson defense. Faber deked Harvard goalie Christina Kessler and then shot at close range between Kessler’s leg pads and into the net. <\/p>\n
Her second goal came at 3:07 in the third period when she took a pass from Kelly Patton, cut down the slot and again hit between Kessler’s legs to make it 4-0.<\/p>\n
“This was a big win for us,” Faber said, crediting her line with her own success. “I know we have a lot to work on but we’re looking forward to resting during the break and coming back strong in the second half.”<\/p>\n
The Wildcats are a skewed team: They are loaded with seniors who start most games (four see significant ice team) and talented freshman, including Jenn Wakefield, a prized recruit who plays on Faber\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s line, and goalie Kayley Herman. Wakefield (Pickering, Ont.) Ontario, has been Hockey East rookie of the week three times and recently played for Canada in the Four Nations tournament.<\/p>\n
Also on Faber\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s line is sophomore Kelly Paton, who with 22 points is seven behind Faber\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s team leading 29 (14-15). Six Wildcats are in double digits in scoring.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Last year I was the oldest on my line so I had a lot of pressure,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Faber said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This year, things are just clicking.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d She praised both Paton and Wakefield as being among the smartest players she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ever been with.<\/p>\n
Faber is also trying to position herself better on the ice by using her speed to get to the outside where she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shooting the puck more (her 65 shots lead the team), although coach Brian McCloskey thinks she could be shooting even more.<\/p>\n
Faber, a sports management major from Mt. Sinai, N.Y., is only 5-4, which McCloskey thinks may have resulted in her being overlooked by some of the Midwestern powerhouses when she was at Northwood School. But he saw something in the four years he watched her. <\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153People knew she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be good but maybe not how good,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said McCloskey. Faber reminded him of a UNH player he had coached on the men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s side — \u00e2\u20ac\u0153slippery and always around the puck.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
While she was being recruited, Faber heard from Wisconsin and Minnesota but it was mostly the Eastern schools like Mercyhurst and St. Lawrence that really pressed to recruit her. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I just fell in love with it here,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said of the University of New Hampshire, just four hours from her home. <\/p>\n
McCloskey called Faber’s freshman year \u00e2\u20ac\u0153fabulous.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d She was third on the team with 51 points (22-29), and third among rookies and seventh overall in the country in average points per game (1.38), 10th overall in assists. <\/p>\n
Last season she had 44 points (15-29), which was enough to lead the team and put her on the Hockey East first team as well as a number of other post-season prestigious squads. So her sophomore season wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a bad year — just different.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sometimes when players have a great freshman year, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s almost impossible to follow that up the second year,” McCloskey said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153She might have been pressing too hard. It happens to teams also. Sometimes it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard to live up to your own expectations.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
When a player falls off a little, she can start questioning herself. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sam probably went through some questioning but this year is different, with returning players and a high profile recruit,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said McCloskey. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153After last year, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not surprised she got off to such a great start this year.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very gifted around the net and creates scoring chances. Sometimes I have to get on her to shoot the puck.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
He also said Faber has gotten physically stronger, which helps boost her confidence because she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on the small side. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153She has vision, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unselfish and she has trained very hard over the summer.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
McCloskey said that because the team has such strong senior leadership, Faber does not have to be too demonstrative, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not really her style anyhow. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of those players who shows by examples,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u009dIf she gets mad, she just digs down and works harder.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Faber has picked up several Big East weekly offensive awards this season but although she said they make her feel good, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the team awards she is setting her sights on, including a national championship.<\/p>\n
When womens hockey played in the AWCHA, UNH won a national championship (1998) but has only made it to the NCAA Frozen Four once (2006) since then. Last year the Wildcats won the Hockey East tournament but only lasted one round in the NCAA regional, losing to St. Lawrence, 6-3, on their own ice in Whittemore Center.<\/p>\n
Faber thinks this year’s team is stronger both on and off the ice, which gives her the confidence to predict a big finish to the season. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It feels different this year,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153After last weekend, we know we can compete with the best teams in the west.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
UNH has to be careful not to look past weaker opponents. Earlier this season, after beating Boston College and UConn in one week, the Wildcats lost 2-1 to Princeton. Their first loss was a 3-0 defeat at the hands of St. Lawrence in the second game of the season. <\/p>\n
For her part, Faber is on the Under-22 U.S. National Team, although she did not participate in the recent Four Nations Tournament.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on the radar,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d McCloskey said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s multi-talented and can be a tremendous player at the national level.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Going to the national program has not worked out yet,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Faber, whose focus is somewhere else. <\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Right now,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the goal is to win a national championship.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After a 51-point rookie season in 2005-06, Sam Faber’s sophomore slump was hardly noticeable, but the Wildcat junior’s performance in the first half of this year’s campaign is hard to ignore — and has New Hampshire looking toward the post-season. Terese Karmel reports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n