Two key players from the Penn State women’s hockey team, Grace Tullock and Lauren Barbro, had a memorable homecoming at Union College last weekend.
Grace Tullock, a freshman defenseman from Burnt Hills, and Lauren Barbro, a junior goalie and Loudonville native, played instrumental roles in the 12th-ranked Nittany Lions’ victorious sweep against the Garnet Chargers at Messa Rink. The Nittany Lions triumphed in Friday’s game with a 4-2 score. On Saturday, Barbro made her season debut with an impressive 22 saves, leading the team to a 5-3 victory.
After Saturday’s game, I had the opportunity to speak with both players. They were thrilled to play in front of their loved ones.
“It feels incredible,” Tullock shared. “I had a large group of family and friends here this weekend to support me and the team, which was really heartwarming.”
“It was a blast,” Barbro added. “I have fond memories of playing here and attending games, so it was great to be back. I had 12 family members cheering from the stands, which was pretty amazing. My parents used to have season tickets for the men’s games.”
Tullock reminisced about attending games when she played youth hockey with the Schenectady Chargers.
“Our youth teams would always come and support the men’s team,” Tullock recalled.
Penn State head coach Jeff Kampersal was equally excited for Tullock and Barbro.
“[Last Friday] with Grace Tullock, her dad is the strength coach at [the University at] Albany, and the entire men’s lacrosse team showed up to cheer us on, which was pretty awesome to see,” Kampersal said. “And then Lauren [on Saturday], to get her first start and her first win as a Penn Stater. I’m sure that’s special for her in her home state.”
When the schedule was announced during the summer, Tullock wasn’t the only one excited about playing at Messa.
“I remember my mom,” Tullock said. “The first thing she said was, ‘I’m going to tell everyone about this. I’m going to post this all over social media so all of our friends come,’ and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ But it’s awesome to have all that support.”
While Barbro is a junior, she spent four years playing for Minnesota State. She posted a 15-17-0 record with a 2.93 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage.
Despite playing four years at Minnesota State, Barbro has two years of eligibility left.
“My first year was a COVID year,” Barbro said. “And then my sophomore season, I had surgery.”
KAMPERSAL PLAYED FOR CD ISLANDERS
Tullock and Barbro aren’t the only Penn State women’s hockey team members to have ties to the Capital Region.
Kampersal played briefly for the AHL’s Capital District Islanders during the 1992-93 season. The former Princeton player appeared in eight games and had a goal and three assists.
He recalled a funny story during his brief time in the area.
“We lived in the Holiday Inn in Latham, and the organization had a car, but the windshield wipers didn’t work,” Kampersal said. “The driver would have a hockey string and tied it to the wipers and pull one way, and the passenger would pull the other way, and we’d have to drive five or seven miles to get to Knickerbacker [Rink] for practice, and then, eventually, into the RPI fieldhouse. Those are things that I probably remember the most, that and some of the good restaurants around here.”
COLLINS COMMITS TO UNION MEN
The Union men’s hockey team recently received a verbal commitment from Tate Collins, a forward for the Toronto Patriots of the Ontario Junior Hockey League.
Collins, who turns 17 on Nov. 4, is third on the team in scoring with three goals and 12 assists in 13 games through Wednesday.
“I am proud and honoured to announce my commitment to play NCAA Division I hockey at Union College,” Collins posted on his Instagram account. “I would like to thank my previous and current coaches … for providing me with the opportunity to develop and get better every day. Most of all, I would like to thank my parents, family [and] teammates … for your continuous support and help during my journey.”
JERSEY ISSUE
The Union men’s team wore its home white jerseys instead of its away garnet uniforms to its road games against Stonehill and Boston University last weekend.
It wasn’t by design.
“There was a little bit of just a jersey error,” Union head coach Josh Hauge said. “It went missing. We were able to call Stonehill and BU and just switch to the whites. We’re still missing it.”
With the Garnet Chargers playing their next eight games in the Capital Region, they may not need the road uniforms. Union will most likely wear the white jerseys next Friday at RPI because it’s the Engineers’ “Black Friday” game, and they will likely wear dark jerseys.
UNION WOMEN ASSISTANT COACHES
Although they have been working behind the bench since the start of the season, the two new Union College women’s assistant coaches were officially announced on Monday.
Joining new head coach Tony Maci and assistant coach Shawn Skelly, who was named in September, are Tina Ciraulo and Courtney Hall.
Ciraulo spent six seasons with the Metro Jets in the USPHL Premier. She made history in the 2020-21 season by becoming the league’s first female head coach, and first female coach to secure a junior hockey game win on Nov. 8, 2020, when the Jets defeated the Wooster Oilers 8-2. She played collegiately at St. Cloud State from 2001-05 and was the team captain for two seasons.
Hall also played for St. Cloud State, from 2019-23. Last season, she played as a graduate student for Robert Morris.
“Tina brings a lengthy coaching career to Union and a winning pedigree,” Maci said in a press release. “Her passion for the game and her ability to coach and teach the student-athletes is unmatched. She brings a smile and fun atmosphere to the rink that is contagious amongst our staff, and her connections and experience recruiting in North America and overseas will help us grow our recruiting pipelines. We are extremely fortunate to have Tina with us.
“Courtney comes to us after a successful playing career and work with USA Hockey. She comes to Messa Rink eager to learn and grow as a coach. Having been a recruiting coordinator at the U18 level she brings many connections to all minor hockey associations. Court brings some fresh eyes and new athlete perspectives to our staff.”
Union plays a pair of games at New Hampshire this weekend.
I agree. They must have felt the support from their fans and the familiar surroundings boosted their performance.
Agree – Definitely, playing in familiar territory can give players a confidence boost and help them perform at their best.
Üsküdar su borusu onarımı Uygun fiyatlı ve hızlı bir servis. Su kaçağı için her zaman tercih ederim. https://webyourself.eu/blogs/539161/%C3%9Csk%C3%BCdar-Su-ka%C3%A7ak-tespiti
Good day! I could have sworn I’ve been to this blog before but after checking through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Nonetheless, I’m definitely delighted I found it and I’ll be book-marking and checking back frequently!
A powerful share, I simply given this onto a colleague who was doing slightly evaluation on this. And he in truth bought me breakfast because I discovered it for him.. smile. So let me reword that: Thnx for the treat! But yeah Thnkx for spending the time to debate this, I feel strongly about it and love reading more on this topic. If attainable, as you become experience, would you mind updating your weblog with more particulars? It is extremely useful for me. Large thumb up for this weblog put up!
It’s actually a nice and useful piece of information. I am glad that you shared this useful information with us. Please keep us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
I was suggested this website by my cousin. I’m not sure whether this post is written by him as nobody else know such detailed about my difficulty. You’re incredible! Thanks!
I don’t commonly comment but I gotta state thankyou for the post on this amazing one : D.
Your style is so unique compared to many other people. Thank you for publishing when you have the opportunity,Guess I will just make this bookmarked.2
I’m really inspired together with your writing talents and also with the structure for your weblog. Is that this a paid subject matter or did you modify it yourself? Either way stay up the excellent high quality writing, it’s uncommon to see a nice weblog like this one these days..
Can I just say what a relief to find someone who actually knows what theyre talking about on the internet. You definitely know how to bring an issue to light and make it important. More people need to read this and understand this side of the story. I cant believe youre not more popular because you definitely have the gift.
When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get several e-mails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove people from that service? Thanks!
I together with my friends happened to be going through the best techniques on the blog and then the sudden got a terrible suspicion I never thanked the blog owner for them. These guys came so glad to see all of them and have now in reality been taking pleasure in these things. We appreciate you turning out to be indeed helpful and then for using this kind of helpful subject matter most people are really desperate to discover. My very own sincere regret for not saying thanks to sooner.
When I originally commented I clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Thanks!
Please let me know if you’re looking for a article writer for your blog. You have some really good posts and I believe I would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d absolutely love to write some content for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine. Please shoot me an e-mail if interested. Cheers!
These are genuinely impressive ideas in on the topic of blogging.
You have touched some nice things here. Any way keep up wrinting.
Your style is so unique compared to other folks I have read
stuff from. Many thanks for posting when you have the
opportunity, Guess I’ll just book mark this site.
Post writing is also a excitement, if you know
after that you can write if not it is difficult to write.
Hi there, for all time i used to check webpage posts here in the early hours in the dawn, because
i like to learn more and more.
Thanx for the effort, keep up the good work Great work, I am going to start a small Blog Engine course work using your site I hope you enjoy blogging with the popular BlogEngine.net.Thethoughts you express are really awesome. Hope you will right some more posts.
Great write-up, I?¦m normal visitor of one?¦s web site, maintain up the excellent operate, and It’s going to be a regular visitor for a lengthy time.
This is a very good tips especially to those new to blogosphere, brief and accurate information… Thanks for sharing this one. A must read article.
Wow, superb blog layout! How long have you been blogging for? you made blogging look easy. The overall look of your site is excellent, let alone the content!
Just desire to say your article is as astounding. The clarity in your publish is just great and that i can suppose you are an expert on this subject. Fine along with your permission allow me to snatch your feed to stay updated with coming near near post. Thank you 1,000,000 and please keep up the gratifying work.
Appreciate it for this terrific post, I am glad I observed this website on yahoo.
Hello there, You’ve done a great job. I will certainly digg it and personally recommend to my friends. I’m sure they’ll be benefited from this website.
Explore the ranked best online casinos of 2025. Compare bonuses, game selections, and trustworthiness of top platforms for secure and rewarding gameplayBonus offer.
Regards for this post, I am a big fan of this internet site would like to proceed updated.
WONDERFUL Post.thanks for share..more wait .. …