An interview with the winningest team in BC history

Boston College Women’s Ice Hockey has had an impressive and historic season. Through teamwork and great perseverance, BCWIH dominated the Beanpot and crushed the Hockey East.

This group of talented young ladies worked day in and day out to be the first women’s ice hockey team in BC’s history to reach the National Championship game.

The Tab sat down with seniors Lexi Bender, Meghan Grieves, and Kaliya Johnson to talk about, and celebrate, their unbelievable season.

How does it feel to be the most winning team in the history of Boston College?

Lexi: Honestly, it’s something that we haven’t really thought about yet. But, I’m sure that when it sinks in it’s something that we can hang our hats on for a while.

Meghan: Yeah it’s definitely a cool feeling and its an honor to have that title next to our season. It’s just been an incredible year with an incredible group of girls, so to have that with this team is something truly special.

Kaliya: It’s a great honor to be the most winning team in the history of BC. It’s a little hard when you lose the final game. It is still a huge honor, especially to have people looking up to you and to know that future BC Eagles will be looking up to us.

How does it feel to have won 40 games in a row? Also, how is that even possible!

Lexi: You just keep going. Honestly this year it wasn’t something that we ever stopped and thought about, the next one is 38, and the next one is 39. We just kept going and we kept playing BC Hockey. Every day we were playing ourselves and trying to get better than the day before.

Meghan: Yeah I think that every game that we won was another check on the to-do list. We had this end goal in mind and winning those 40 games was just a way of getting to that end goal. Like Lexi said, we never focused on our record. We just looked forward to the next game and to taking care of business. We took care of business one game at a time.

Kaliya: It’s surreal to think about, that it was even possible to win that many games. It really just shows how hard we worked as a team for one another. It shows that when you buy into a system you can accomplish unbelievable things.

How did it feel to represent Boston College in the National Championship game?

Lexi: I’m sure that in a few years it will sink in how special that opportunity was, but right now it just hurts. It was so special, and we wanted it so bad. We prepared the right way, and to come in and have that experience was amazing. But to not finish and get the result we wanted was really hard.

Meghan: It was an awesome feeling and a great experience, especially being the first BC Women’s Ice Hockey team to make it to that game. Yeah, it’s hard to put into words the feeling of playing in that game and some of the feelings we felt after. It was definitely an awesome experience but still a hard pill to swallow when we didn’t get the result that we wanted.

Kaliya: I was very proud to wear the BC jersey one last time. The fact that it was for a National Championship, no matter the outcome, I was just proud to represent my school. It was unbelievable to see the amount of support we had cheering us on at UNH. No matter what the outcome, I knew that we had people who would be proud of us. It showed us that we could leave that game with our heads held high, knowing we did everything we could.

What is your team’s secret to success?

Lexi: Honestly, I think it’s having fun. Besides everyone binding into a concept and a system and playing for each other. It’s the fact that we keep it light. We know how to tighten up and go to work when we have to. But, there was never a time this season where we couldn’t make a situation fun.

Kaliya: I think our secret to success was always giving it our all and playing for each and every person on the team; not only for the players on the team but also representing Boston College in the best way that we could.

What do you think is the biggest thing your team accomplished this season?

Lexi: I believe that our greatest accomplishment was winning the semi final game. That’s been a huge mind game for us in the tournament before, and the fact that we made it to the championship was huge.

Kaliya: I would say the biggest thing was coming together and really working as a team and always coming out and being strong, coming together as one unit.

What about this season are you most proud of?

Meghan: I think, obviously aside from the incredible record we ended up with, I am most proud of how our team pulled together and put so much hard work into this season. Also how we overcame adversity in a lot of games, whether it be the overtime win against BU or the overtime win against Clarkson, I am really proud of how we put in a 60 minute effort each game and worked really hard for each other.

Lexi Yeah, just to reiterate. I think am most proud of how we backed up the talent we had this year with the culture that we had. Our team was a family this year and we played for each other. I think that’s something that we can always be proud of.

Kaliya: I’m proud of how much everyone bought into our system and how much they were willing to give everything and put everything on the line. We really came together this year, which was a huge accomplishment for us and it took us as far as we did.

Are there any team pre-game traditions?

Meghan: Our team, once we are done warming up and taping our sticks, you know the typical hockey to-do list, plays some soccer. Kaliya and I play hacky sack. We do a lot of dancing and singing. We like to keep it light before the game to make sure that nobody lets their emotions get the best of them.

Kaliya: Our biggest team pre-game tradition is the day before when we always have our mini-game. It’s kind of like our game day within the squad. We divide up and play Maroon vs. Gold. We do it at the end of every practice; it gets us ready and pumped up to get going for the next day. It’s a lot of fun!

Do you have any individual pre-game superstitions or rituals?

Meghan: When Kaliya and I play hacky sack we always see how high we can go. We have to hack back and fourth at least eight times before we start getting dressed. That’s the only superstition that we have.

Lexi: Yeah, I don’t text on game days. Which not replying to texts every time we play a game when we have as many games as we do has really stunted my social life.

What is the best lesson your coaches have taught you and what was it?

Meghan: I think our coaches really taught us the importance of staying within ourselves and also working hard and giving a full 60-minute effort. That can truly change a game around and we saw that in the Clarkson game.

Lexi: The most important thing the coaches embedded in us was to keep our emotions in check, no matter what the situation. ‘Don’t get too high, don’t get too low’ was a common theme this year.

Kaliya: The most important thing was to work hard from start to finish, all 60 minutes. Making sure that no matter what situation we were put in and how we were tested in the game, to keep working hard and to keep believing in ourselves and believing in each other. To do the best we can to get the outcome that we wanted.

What is one thing you would like to say to your teammates?

Meghan: I’d just like to say thank you for being such an incredible group of girls. I have never had such a close-knit group of friends who really felt like family to me. I looked forward to going to the rink everyday to work hard for them and with them. Thank you! Thank you for making my senior year absolutely incredible.

Kaliya: The biggest thing I’d like to say is that I’m proud of each and every one of them. It’s been an unbelievable year and I am very honored to have played with them. To be on a team with them and to go as far as we did, no matter what the outcome was or how people view it, we worked hard to get where we were and I am just beyond proud to call each of them a friend and a teammate.

Lexi:  I could not have asked for a better group to finish out an amazing four years at BC. The last meal that we had together before the championship game was the dinner the night before. When everyone’s food got to the table, before you could even touch your own food, everyone was grabbing different plates and passing things around. That really illustrates exactly how much of a family we are.

If you could say anything to your parents, what would you say? 

Lexi: Thanks mom and dad, you da bomb! And thanks Danika (my mom) for making me go to math camp so I could get into BC!

Meghan: Thank you! It is not easy to be a hockey parent. You do a lot of driving and spend a lot of time in freezing cold rinks. Thank you for bundling up and supporting us through all of it.

Kaliya: I would tell my mother thank you for constantly supporting me throughout the years, especially during my college years when things got a little rougher than I planned. She was always there for me and her unconditional love pulled me though in a lot of different ways and I am beyond grateful.

Can you reflect on your four years here at the Heights?

Lexi: It’s been an amazing ride. Every year I feel like I have gotten closer to the school and it feels like home. The most emotional part of the game on Sunday was taking off my jersey for the last time. If you watched the seniors, we were all the last ones to take off our jerseys. Each jersey was folded with extreme care and put into the bag. It just showed how much these four years have meant to everyone to have the opportunity to play here.

Meghan: Playing hockey for a school like Boston College…it’s hard to put into words what its been like. It’s been an incredible experience and one that I am truly going to miss. Taking off the jersey for the last time was probably one of the hardest things I’ve done in my four years here, because through these four years I have taken for granted how awesome it is to wear the Boston College logo on the front of my jersey. It’s something I am really going to miss.

Kaliya: It has been an unbelievable journey in many different ways. This school and this hockey program have taught me a lot about myself, as a person and a player. It’s been great to watch myself grow and my teammates grow, especially the seniors over the past four years. To be able to experience this with them was unbelievable and I would not have wanted to spend the last four years with anyone else. The fact that we were able to get to our last game, and for it to be a National Championship, was just the best day of my college career and my hockey career. Obviously we didn’t get the outcome we wanted but I would not have taken anything back.

Everyone played their hearts out for the seniors and each other. I’m beyond grateful for that because it really just shows how much BC is a tight-knit community. It was very hard to take off that jersey one last time. It doesn’t really hit you until you are in the locker room afterwards and you realize you have to take off your jersey for the last time. Like Meghan and Lexi mentioned, the seniors were still in there and we were the last ones to leave. Each jersey was folded and put carefully back into the bag. That just shows how much this school and this hockey program have affected all of us.

I think I can speak for myself and all my teammates by saying we are beyond grateful for the experience.