High School Ice Hockey:
Vikings Dress First Female In Club History

Sunday, October 17, 1999

By Mike Costantino
SJSports Staff Writer

Lindsay Roy skated for the Vikings Sunday night and in doing so became the first female to compete in league play for Eastern. I arrived at Twin Rinks early in hopes of meeting Lindsay prior to her taking the ice and found her to be gracious and engaging. Standing around waiting to take the ice and surrounded by her teammates Lindsay seemed anxious and a bit nervous. When I asked her how she felt she said, "once my first shift is over I'll be able to settle down and try and help my team."

Lindsay, a senior, has been playing organized hockey for a number of years and played on boys teams up in Canada, where she used to live, however never with any contact until tonight. Well, with just less than one minute played Lindsay took the ice and won her first face-off. After chasing the puck into the zone she was promptly checked to the ice, a clean hit and showing her toughness, she picked herself up and hustled to get back on defense.

With about nine minutes left in the second period Lindsay had her only scoring opportunity, a close in shot to the short side with nothing really to shoot at. But this wasn't about scoring or winning, but about proving that she could play at this level and take the contact. After the game Lindsay said "that first hit was the hardest I ever was hit and during the game players from Delran were apologizing for the contact, which shows you the class of the Delran organization."

Although her team did not win, Lindsay is a winner, as she looks forward to attending an East Coast college and continuing to play hockey. With her positive attitude and winning smile we know she will succeed.

Photos by Boog Williams