Neuberg Highlanders Crush Gipsy Girls Villach, 11-2

Photo Courtesy of Harmut Marchl

The Neuberg Highlanders remain undefeated in the Damen Eishockey Bundes Liga (DEBL), as they beat the Gipsy Girls Villach, 11-2, on Saturday in Villach.  With the win, the Highlanders improved to a 7-0 record in DEBL while Villach falls to 1-7.

The Highlanders struck first as defender Jessica Jenkins skated with the puck into Villach's zone.  She shot the puck and captured her own rebound, sliding the puck passed the goaltender.  At the 10-minute mark in the first period, I was able to score a goal on the powerplay giving the Highlanders a 2-0 lead.  Four minutes later, I scored my second powerplay goal of the game.  I beat Villach's defender but was tripped.  As I was falling to the ice, I slid the puck between the goaltender's five-hole. 

Photo Courtesy of Harmut Marchl

The Highlanders were able to put one last tally on the scoreboard before the period ended.  Evelyn "Eve" Hochegger scored the final goal for the Highlanders.  The Gipsy Girls capitalized on one play and scored their first goal of the game.

Neuberg entered the second period with a 4-1 lead, but Villach came out bursting with speed, determined to tie the game.  The second period proved to be the Highlanders' worst period as they were unable to score even one goal while Villach cut its deficit to two goals.

Photo Courtesy of Harmut Marchl

As the Highlanders stepped onto the ice for the third period only leading 4-2, they proposed shortening the bench to two lines if the Gipsy Girls scored another goal.  I told the captains that they were not going to score, and they didn't!  The Highlanders scored seven unanswered goals in the third period and finished the game with an 11-2 victory.  Seven different Highlanders contributed goals in the game.  I received credit for three goals, while Hochegger and Julia Willenshofer scored two goals each.  Jenkins, Bettina Angerer, Sabrina Schlauer, and Katja Weiss each put one puck in the net.

The Highlanders play their final game of the 2011 year against HDK Maribor on Sunday at 4 p.m. in Kapfenberg. 

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Thanksgiving

On Thursday, I celebrated American Thanksgiving in Austria.  My roommates (Courtney Bradley and Jessica Jenkins) are Canadian, so we celebrated their Thanksgiving in October.  Unfortunately, we could not find a turkey for their Thanksgiving, but  I was lucky enough to grab one of two turkeys in the grocery store a couple weeks ago!

On Thanksgiving Day, I opened the refrigerator to find my thawed-out turkey.  I proceeded to wash and clean out my turkey.  I made stuffing for the turkey, although the grocery stores here don't actually have a bag called "stuffing mix."  I used bread cubes, called knödel brot (dumpling bread), which are used to make knödels, or dumplings.  The grocery store also did not have all of the same spices and herbs that my mother usually puts in her stuffing mix, so I had to do without certain things like savory.  That is one thing I found difficult when trying to cook something from home.  The grocery stores here simply don't have the same ingredients as the grocery stores back home in America.  I had to work with what I could find at the store.  After making the stuffing, I opened the turkey up and jammed all my knödel brot stuffing inside.  I seasoned the outside of the turkey with rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper.  I also put slices of butter on the skin of the turkey.  I put the turkey into the oven at 10 a.m.  It was a "4,444 kg" turkey, which is about 9.7 lbs, so it needed to cook for about 4 to 4 1/2 hours.  To my surprise, the total bake time took about 5 or more hours.  This was my first turkey that I baked all on my own and I think it turned out great!

My boyfriend, Michi Schmieder, arrived at the apartment several minutes before the turkey had finished.  He was so sweet in that he brought me a bouquet of red roses!  I put the flowers in some water and continued my role as the master chef of the household.  I took the turkey out and carved slices of meat.  In addition to the turkey and its stuffing, I also served rice with gravy, green bean casserole, scalloped potatoes, deviled eggs, and crackers topped with cream cheese, smoked salmon, and a pepper (a tribute to the Quinnipiac women's ice hockey Thanksgiving feast).  For dessert, I made a sort of apple crumble-like thing.  It originally started out as an apple pie, but Austria doesn't have pie pans.  I had to use a spring-form pan for my apple pie...crumble...crisp thing.  All in all, it was a great first American Thanksgiving in Austria!  After cooking all day on Thursday, I don't think I will be cooking for a while!

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"Neuberg's Grandma Celebrates Her Birthday"

"Neuberg's Grandma Celebrates Her Birthday"

24. November 2011

"We played a friendly match against Budapest on Sunday.  Unfortunately, we lost, 5-1, due to our lack of older players.  We played with the Highlanders’ second team, which has players younger than half my age!  It was difficult playing with girls, not only half my age, but half my size.  Because I am bigger, I skate faster than the girls and because I am older, I am more experienced.   Last year at my university (Quinnipiac University) in America, I was also the oldest on the team.  The difference between the Highlanders and my university team is that the youngest player at Quinnipiac was 18 years old, not eight!  I am considered the grandma on the Highlanders for I am the oldest on the team.

I just celebrated my 23rd birthday on 16. November.  For my birthday, I went to Graz with my boyfriend (Michi Schmieder).  We went shopping and walked around the city.  Over the weekend, I further celebrated my birthday as my roommates (Courtney Bradley and Jessica Jenkins), my boyfriend, and I went to Munich, Germany.  We bought tickets to see the Boyce Avenue concert at the Kesselhaus.  Boyce Avenue is an American band, so they sang all English songs, which I liked very much.  I enjoyed celebrating my first birthday in Austria, and I had a great weekend seeing my first European concert!"

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Friendly Match: Budapest Beats Neuberg Highlanders 5-1

Photo Courtesy of neuberg-highlanders.at

In a friendly match, the Neuberg Highlanders found themselves in their second loss of the season.  Although the game did not count towards anything, Budapest beat the Highlanders, 5-1, in Kapfenberg on Sunday.

Budapest took a 1-0 lead within the first shift of the game.  As the Highlanders were down by one goal, I came back scoring the equalizer for my team.  We ended the period at 1-1.

The score remained even as both teams battled to a scoreless second period.  In the third period, Budapest took a 2-1 lead after two minutes of play.  Within six minutes later, Budapest extended its lead 3-1.  In the final minute of play, Budapest secured the victory as it scored two goals 22 seconds apart.

The Highlanders struggled as they were missing some key players in the lineup.  Since the game did not count toward our league standings, members from the Highlanders' second team were asked to play in the game.  That meant there were girls that were more than half my age playing on the team!

The Highlanders return to league play as they travel to Villach on Saturday to play Gipsy Girls Villach.

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Munich, Germany

My roommates (Courtney Bradley and Jessica Jenkins), my boyfriend (Michi Schmieder), and I traveled to Munich, Germany on Friday for we had bought tickets to see Boyce Avenue in concert at the Kesselhaus.  The trip took about 4 hours driving.  We left in the morning hoping to get to Munich in the afternoon so we could walk around the city before the 8 p.m. opening act for Boyce Avenue. 

We arrived in Munich around 1 p.m.  We checked into our hotel and dropped our bags off at the room.  Michi and I went out for lunch.  We went to Pizza Hut!  It was Michi's first time at a Pizza Hut since Austria doesn't have any.  After we ate, we walked across the street to the BMW Welt.  The BMW Welt (or BMW World) was separated into two large buildings.  We went into the museum first, where we walked around gazing at all the different types of motorcycles and cars manufactured by BMW.

After touring the museum, we walked outside and crossed over a bridge to get to the second building.  This building was more like a shopping mall.  Rows of cars were on display throughout the two floors of the building.  Buyers could observe the cars and even take them on a test-drive, starting from inside the store.  While the museum was full of "Please Don't Touch" signs, this building allowed people to engage in a hands-on experience with the vehicles.  Michi and I sat on one of the motorcycles even though it was bolted to a stand, meaning it could not be moved or even turned on.  However, I enjoyed it.  Afterall, it marked my first time being on a motorcycle!

After spending an hour or two at the BMW Welt, we had to hurry back to the hotel so we could get ready for the concert!  Michi and I drank some wine as we got ready while Courtney and Jessica went downstairs to the hotel's bar.  All four of us piled into a taxi and made our way to Kesselhaus, the venue where Boyce Avenue would be playing.  Unfortunately, the first taxi took us to the wrong venue.  Apparently, the concert had been originally scheduled to take place at Theaterfabrik so the taxi driver took us there.  It was a 15-minute drive to the Theaterfabrik and we soon discovered it was going to take another 15-minute drive to get to the actual venue where the band would be performing!  The doors opened at 7 p.m., which was the time we were planning on getting there, but due to our detour, we got to the venue around 7:30 p.m.

Once we arrived at real venue, there was a long line outside the door extending down the street.  Jessica and I hurried out of the cab, ran across the street, and got into the line as fast as we could!  Michi and Courtney shortly filed into line with us.  Once we got inside, there were already tons of people piled in front of the stage.  We all got beers and worked out way into the crowd.

Tyler Ward opened for Boyce Avenue.  He is similar to Boyce Avenue in that he became famous from his cover songs he posted on YouTube.  Boyce Avenue came on stage shortly after Tyler Ward's opening performance.  Overall, it was a great concert and we all had a blast at our first concert in Europe!



For more videos from the concert, check out my YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/skatingthedream

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"Impact Shots and a Nice Dinner"

 Impact Shots and a Nice Dinner

18. November 2011

"We had a team practice on Sunday; however, there were only four of us because some girls had games with their other ice hockey teams.  Coach Werner Kerth compiled the practice with mostly shooting drills.  We worked on taking quick shots and slap shots.  The lack of a goaltender did not make for such an exciting practice but we figured out a way to make it work.   We flipped the net over and shot either on the left or right side, whichever side coach directed.  At the end of practice, coach had us get on the goal line and push the net down the ice one at a time.   We did this for a few minutes, but thankfully, I was able to leave early because I had a dinner date.

I made plans to have dinner with my boyfriend, Michi Schmieder, and his parents.  I was going to meet his mother for the first time.  Not to mention, this marked the first time I was going to meet someone’s parents that didn’t possess English as their first language.  My lack of knowledge of the German language put a great deal of nervousness upon me, but once we sat down for dinner, I felt a sense of comfort.  I found it funny but cute when his mother tried to speak English to me.  I’m sure his parents also found some amusement as I attempted to read the menu in German.   We enjoyed a bottle of wine as we ate our meals and it turned out to be a successful dinner date with the parents!"

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Celebrating my 23rd Birthday...in Austria!

Yesterday, I celebrated my first birthday in Austria!  For the big 2-3, I went to Graz with my boyfriend, Michi Schmieder.  We decided to go shopping for some Under Armour once we entered the city.  We went to ALLSTAR Sport and ended up spending just more than €300 (about 450 US Dollars) on Under Armour gear!  My boyfriend was so sweet in that he paid for all of it!

After we left the store, we parked at a shopping center inside the city and walked toward a giant wall of steps leading to the top of a mountain.  This sight seeing attraction is known as Schlossberg.  As we walked up the stairs, we observed the amazing view of the city.  We could see the rooftops of buildings as if we were on top of the city.  We climbed the steps further and we approached a tall clock tower, which was located on the top of the mountain.  There were several other buildings at the top, such as a café, but we just walked around overlooking the city.


We worked our way back down the steps, which seemed a lot easier than climbing up them.  Once we hit ground level, we walked to a unique bridge that crossed over a river, Murinsal - Island in the Mur.  The center of the bridge looked as if it was a bowl sitting in the middle of the river.  The unique architectural concept of this bridge really caught my eye since I have been planning to attend graduate school for architecture.  We walked across the bridge toward the bowl-like structure sitting in the center of the bridge.  A cafe and a playground resided in this "bowl."  We sat down inside the café for I was freezing cold.  I have yet to get used to this Austrian weather.  We each had a cafe latté to warm our bodies.  After we thawed out a bit, we continued on our journey across the bridge.  After we stepped off the bridge, we made our way back to the shopping center where the car was parked.  With my being a girl, I had to stop in a store and buy a few more items before we left Graz.

We arrived at the car and left Graz.  We drove to Bruck an der Mur, where we had dinner.  We ate a restaurant called Papa Joe's.  This place seemed like a Mexican restaurant, but it had an array of items on the menu ranging from burgers to burritos.  We ordered two beers each.  The funny thing was that these beers were 1/2 yard tall!  I struggled lifting the glass as I tried to pour the beer into my mouth.  For our meal, we ordered the Star of Santa Fe, which was enough for two people.  Our waitress brought out a giant platter that had an arrangement of meat (beef, chicken, pork, and bacon) hanging from a pole.  She set the platter down and lit the dangling meat on fire.  It was quite a sight to see!  After our meals, we ordered some dessert although we seemed pretty filled.  We ordered a chocolate fondue dish that came with an assortment of fruit for dipping.  After we finished our dessert and our beers, we drove home to Mürzzuschlag.

As I walked into the apartment, my roommates (Courtney Bradley and Jessica Jenkins) surprised with decorations on the walls for my birthday.  On our dining room table, I found a gift bag for me.  It contained two bottles of wine and my favorite kind of chewing gum!  After several minutes had passed, Jessica brought out yet another surprise, an ice cream cake that had two numbered candles on it, a "2" and a "3."  I blew our my candles and drank one of my bottles of wine (It was a small bottle) to conclude my birthday.

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Ein Tag mit Kleine Zeitung

A Day with Kleine Zeitung

On Wednesday, I spent the day with Kleine Zeitung sports journalist, Christoph Heigl.  Heigl picked me up at my apartment in Mürzzuschlag.  From there, we drove to the headquarters of the No. 1 newspaper in Styria, Kleine Zeitung, which is located in Graz.  He took me on a tour of the company's building and I was able to meet some of his colleagues.

We sat in on the newspaper's morning meeting at 11 a.m.  The chief editor of the newspaper asked me to open the meeting by critiquing the layout and content of the newspaper that was issued that day.  I was in a room full of German-speaking Austrian adults, who had way more experience in the working field of journalism than me.  Of course, my nerves trembled as I began to speak, but after talking for a few minutes, I started to feel at ease.  I talked about the differences between the Austrian newspaper and newspapers back home in the United States.  I found Kleine Zeitung's newspaper easier to handle than the newspapers in the United States because you can easily turn the pages like you would a magazine or book.  The newspapers in America are folded several times, forcing you to unwrap the newspaper like a Christmas present.  Kleine Zeitung can relate to newspapers in America in that is also broken down into sections, such as culture, sports, entertainment, etc.  Kleine Zeitung has a "Thema" article each day, which is featured on the first two pages of the newspaper.  The "Thema" section is usually the most important story of that day's newspaper.  One person in the room asked me to look at a picture in one of the sections.  The picture displayed a topless celebrity.  The person asked me if that type of photograph would be allowed for print in the United States.  I said, "Of course not."  That is one major difference I found in the culture of Austria and the culture of the United States.  Austrian culture can portray such nude images and it is considered part of the norm.

After talking 10 or 15 minutes, I let the chief editor and the rest of the room take over the remaining minutes of the meeting.  Although they all spoke in German, I was able to understand a bit of what they were saying.  The meeting extended for at least an hour and Heigl suggested that we leave the meeting or else our boredom would get the best of us.

After we left the headquarters of Kleine Zeitung in Graz, we had lunch reservations at a restaurant in Bruck called Baderhaus.  Baderhaus means "bathing house" in English.  As we stepped inside, it was as if we took a giant leap back in time.  With its historic stone walls, the restaurant dates back to the 9th century.  The restaurant was located near the water which made for a nice setting as we sat down for lunch.  Heigl ordered two soups for us to start our meals.  The soup was called Grammelstrudel, or crackling strudel in English.  Heigl attempted to explain that Grammel was the fat from pig skin after its been heated.  I don't think there is an actual English translation of what we ate, but it was good!  However, it doesn't really sound that good for you.  For our meals, Heigl ordered a pork dish with vegetables and noodles.  As I'm a girl that lives close to the beach, I ordered a seafood dish.  My meal was Tintenfisch, or calamari, cooked in garlic and oil with a side of potatoes mixed with spinach.  My meal was really good and I forced Heigl to try a piece of my calamari even though he hates seafood.  I don't think he enjoyed the rubbery texture of the calamari as he made a face of disgust when he ate it.

We finished our meals after an hour or so.  Afterward, we walked around Bruck for a little bit.  Then, we made our way over to Kleine Zeitung's Bruck office.  The office was smaller and had only a few employees compared to the large headquarters in Graz.  The people at the Bruck office seemed like a tight-knit group.  I worked with Heigl to edit my "Inside Neuberg Highlanders" article which came out today!  We worked for a few minutes, then we thought it was a good time to take a break.  We went into the "break room," where Heigl showed me their secret liquor cabinet.  We had a glass of white wine and took a shot of schnapps from Romania with one of his colleagues.  After our "break," we continued to work on the article and finished around 4:30 p.m.  After a long day, Heigl drove me back to Mürzzuschlag.  I enjoyed the day as I was able to observe the process of print journalism in Austria and see how it compares to the journalism field in the United States.  Below, you can find my article that was featured in yesterday's newspaper.

Finally I Found a Turkey
10. November 2011

"We won our sixth consecutive victory in the Damen BundasLiga on Sunday.  We beat Triglav 4:3.  This team had some of the biggest and fastest players we had seen so far in our league this season.  We did not play as well as we should have but we fortunate enough to hold the lead until the final buzzer.

After the match, we went to Sport Hotel as a team to eat a post-game meal and have some drinks.  My roommate, Courtney Bradley, invited her aunts to visit for the weekend.  It was nice hearing some English-speaking voices at the dinner table.  Her aunts showed their kindness as they paid for most of our meals, as well as donating some money toward the Neuberg Highlander program.

As all of us finished our meals at a very large table located in a private room in the back of the restaurant, I felt as if we were sitting at the dinner table celebrating American Thanksgiving as a family!  I have been hoping to still celebrate Thanksgiving even though I am in Austria.  The difficulty in this is finding a turkey!  My roommates and I celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving in October but failed in finding a turkey.  Luckily, I spotted two turkeys at the Merkur (grocery store) on Tuesday!  I, of course, had to purchase one for I was afraid I wouldn’t see another turkey again!  I placed my turkey in the freezer until I plan to cook it on Nov. 24 (Thanksgiving Day).  I look forward in celebrating my first American Thanksgiving in Austria!"

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Goals for Good

A friend of mine, senior captain Kevin McNamara of Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y., created Goals for Good in 2011.  Goals for Good is a charitable organization that works toward giving back to the communities that have supported the ice hockey teams of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC).  The ECAC has been known as one of the most competitive conferences in Division I college ice hockey.  Goals for Good brings a similar competitiveness as it provides a charitable competition with various benefits for the top-performing teams and their communities.  The project allows ECAC Hockey fans to engage in some competitiveness of their own as they can compete alongside their favorite players in a charitable project to help those in need.  Goals for Good takes advantage of the competitive nature of ECAC Hockey to generate donations for various causes.

Goals for Good

Mission: To provide a vehicle inspiring people to donate to chosen non-profit organizations through collegiate ice hockey competition.

How It Works:  Each team in the ECAC has partnered with a charity in close relation to their team, school, or community.  Thanks to Pinkdingo.com, Goals For Good takes donations according to the amount of wins and goals that a team scores in a weekend or throughout the season. Follow these steps to help your favorite team raise money for the charity that they have chosen for this season.

• Go to http://goalsforgood.org/.
• Browse the “Teams” section on the menu bar or on the “Standings” table to see who each team has partner with, why they have chosen that charity, and what that charity aims to achieve.
• Pick your favorite team or teams to give to by clicking on the “Donate” button at the bottom of the explanation.
• You will have to pick if you want to donate according to the men’s or women’s team of that school. All of the donations from both teams will be pooled together for their charity.
• This link will take you to the Pinkdingo powered donations page where you can select the appropriate donation.
• The donation pages are set up so you can chose to donate by goal or by win for the length of the regular season.
• If you don’t want to donate for the length of the season, you will be able to cancel your donations at any point.
• Donations will only count towards ECAC games.
• Keep coming back to http://goalsforgood.org/ to check on how your teams are doing in the charitable competition.

For more information and to contribute donations toward the project, visit the official website of Goals for Good: http://goalsforgood.org/.

Goals for Good is currently looking for corporate sponsorships for each team in the ECAC.  If you are interested, contact Kevin McNamara.

For any further questions or details, you can email Kevin McNamara at kevin@goalsforgood.org.

Stay connected with Goals for Good on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/goals4good) and Twitter (@GoalsForGood)

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Highlanders Trounce Triglav

Photo Courtesy of Harmut Marchl

The Neuberg Highlanders remain undefeated in the Damen Eishockey Bundas Liga (DEBL) as they recorded their sixth consecutive league victory on Sunday.  The Highlanders beat HK Triglav Kranj, 4-3, in Kapfenberg.

Jennifer Pesendorfer scored the first goal for the Highlanders giving them a 1-0 lead at the start of the first period.  I scored the second goal for the Highlanders as I capitalized on a Triglav turnover and skated passed their final defender to score a lone goal. 

Photo Courtesy of Harmut Marchl

In the second period, Pesendorfer found me in front of the net.  I passed the puck over to Courtney Bradley who sailed the puck passed the Triglav goaltender, extending the Highlanders' lead to 3-0.  Defender Bettina Angerer skated the puck into Triglav's zone, beating several defenders and shooting the puck between the goaltender's legs.  Triglav responded scoring their first goal of the game before the end of the period.  The Highlanders skated off the ice with a 4-1 lead at the end of the second.

The third period proved to be the Highlanders worst as Triglav scored in the opening minute of play.  With the score 4-2, Triglav scored yet another goal to cut the deficit by one goal.  The Highlanders were fortunate to hold the lead until the final buzzer and completed the game with another victory.

For a list of the DEBL standings, click here.  For league leaders, click here.

The Highlanders return to action as they play a friendly match against FTC Budapest on Nov. 20 at 4:15 p.m. in Kapfenberg.

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"The NHL, Middle of the Night on the Computer"

The NHL, Middle of the Night on the Computer

3. November 2011

"I have been following the National Hockey League ever since I can remember.  Even though my home state, Virginia, doesn’t have a major league ice hockey team, I became an ice hockey fan as I watched Tampa Bay Lightning’s farm team, the Norfolk Admirals.  After going to many Admirals games as a child, I grew to love the game of hockey, but my heart has always been with a different team, the Washington Capitals.  I have been an avid "Caps" fan for many years.  Driving three and a half hours from my hometown to Washington, D.C. with my brother does not seem so far now that I am in Austria, thousands of miles from my team.

Although I can’t actually attend the games while I’m in Austria, I have found another way to see the games through websites on the Internet.  The only problem is that the games are usually at 7 p.m. in USA’s Eastern Standard Time.  This has forced me to stay up until 1 a.m. just to watch Capitals games online.  Being in Austria has turned me into a dedicated "Caps" fan as I have been determined in staying up for nearly all their games thus far.  I am looking forward to going home in December when I can watch live games on the TV at a decent hour rather than watching games on my little computer screen late at night."

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Highlanders Remain Perfect in League Play

Photo Courtesy of Hartmut Marchl

The Neuberg Highlanders remain undefeated in the Damen Eishockey Bundes Liga (DEBL), or Women's Ice Hockey Federal League in English, as they beat Gipsy Girls Villach, 5-2, on Oct. 26 in Kapfenberg.  The Highlanders stay as the top-seeded team in the DEBL standings with a 5-0 record, 6-1 overall.

Highlanders' Julia Willenshofer put the first tally on the scoreboard as she scored an unassisted goal in the eighth minute of the first period.  Jessica Jenkins added another mark to the score when she ripped a shot from inside the blue line.  Just over a minute later, I scored the third goal for the Highlanders as I skated down the right side of the ice toward the net.  I came in from the right side of the net, stopped in front of the goalie, and slid the puck passed the goal on the near post.

Photo Courtesy of Hartmut Marchl

After struggling in the first period, the Gipsy Girls managed to score at the beginning of the second period, cutting the deficit to 2 goals.  With a 3-1 lead, the Highlanders did not let up and scored a fourth goal at the end of the second period.  Jennifer Pesendorfer was credited with the goal while Courtney Bradley earned the assist.

In the third period, Bradley scored her ninth goal of the season giving the Highlanders a 5-1 lead.  Villach was able to score one last goal before the end of the game, but the Highlanders took a 5-2 victory on their home ice.

The Highlanders return to action as they play HK Triglav Kranj on Sunday, Nov. 6 at 4:15 p.m. in Kapfenberg.


DEBL_Statistikinformation_9_26_10_2011

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"Our First Victory as a Coach with Neuberg II"

Our First Victory as a Coach with Neuberg II

"On Saturday, my roommates (Courtney Bradley and Jessica Jenkins) and I were asked to coach the Neuberg Highlanders II.  We gladly accepted.  We traveled on the bus with the girls to Linz as they were playing Ice Cats Linz.  We were excited to coach the young team but very few of them could speak English.  This made it difficult in our ability to coach, but I was able to speak to Captain Katja Weiss about the game.  She translated to the rest of the girls on the team for me.  I was in charge of the offensive lines while Jenkins covered the defensive lines.  Bradley was named „door girl.“  She opened and closed the door for the girls entering and leaving the ice. 

We rolled three sets of lines for the first two periods.  The Highlanders proved to be the dominant team after the first period, taking a 1:0 lead.  In the second period, Linz tied the game, 1:1.  I made a risky coaching decision by changing the lines.  I came up with two strong lines to play in the third period.  As Linz took a 2-0 lead at the start of the third period, I was worried that I made the wrong decision.  Luckily, the Highlanders responded scoring two consecutive goals and regained the lead.  With 0.2 seconds left in the match, the Highlanders put the cherry on top as they scored the final goal of the match.  Bradley, Jenkins, and I gave each high-fives on the bench to celebrate our first victory together as coaches!  Although we enjoyed coaching, the three of us are excited to move back to our player positions on Wednesday as we play Gipsy Girls Villach in Kapfenberg."

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Kleine Zeitung Article 5

 "We played two friendly matches this week.  We played Budapest on Sunday and Denmark on Monday.    The match against Budapest did not seem too friendly as there were several fights in the match.  Unfortunately, we did not come out with a win in either game, but we tied Budapest, 3:3.  We did not play that well against Budapest and we should have beat them.  Denmark, however, was a very strong team.  We lost 7:3.  For the second game, we were missing some key players forcing me to double shift, which I found tiring.  In addition, my skate blade cracked in the middle and I played with a broken skate for most of the match.  It was nice playing teams that were more skilled than the teams in our league.  It provided some good competition for us.

My roommates and I enjoyed playing two games at home for we haven’t had a game in Kapfenberg in a few weeks.  We had also just returned from Venice, Italy on Thursday, so we were happy about not having to travel for a game.  We were in the car for 7 or 8 hours until we arrived to the beautiful city of Venice.  Some missed turns and bad directions extended our drive there.  It was my first trip to Italy as well as my roommates.  We did not expect things to be so expensive.  Because of our tight budget, we were forced to end our trip early.  On Thursday, we returned home to Austria with plenty of bug bites, which we received from the hotel’s beds the night before.  Our teammate, Evelyn Hochegger, said we need a better tour guide for our next trip.  Of course, I agreed with her!"

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