The Auburn hockey team is one of the newest additions to the South Eastern Collegiate Hockey Conference (SECHC), and while most new teams are met with many firsts, this season is met with a new circumstance.
Alexa Wishard is one of four freshman arrivals for the Tigers. She's also the first female player for the Tigers since they joined the SECHC in 2010.
The Jacksonville, Florida, native said she's been skating since she was 11, but didn't pick up competitive hockey until 14.
Although she's played all kinds of sports, hockey had something different.
"I didn't think that I would like playing hockey," Wishard said. "There was this little clinic, and they said I could try (hockey) for free just to see if I'd like it ... I was out there about five minutes and I was like, yep, this is where I need to be."
The transition from traditional skating to hockey wasn't without a few bumps and bruises.
"I had been on figure skates, but I hadn't done any figure skating," Wishard said. "So I kind of had the skating down, but then trying to do that with the stick and the puck and all the pads was kind of weird. The first time I went out there in hockey pads, I fell eight times."
Wishard attributes her original love for hockey to her father, but said she and her parents don't completely see eye-to-eye on the matter.
"My parents didn't want me to play for Auburn because of checking," Wishard said. "I mean, I'm not naive. I know I can get hurt, but that's not going to stop me from going out there and playing."
Wishard said even though she's been on teams with men before, this is the first time she's ever been on a team where she's the only woman. Although she admits it would be nice to have another girl on the team, she said she doesn't mind too much.
"Obviously, I have to change in a different locker room and stay in a different hotel room for away games," Wishard said. "But it's not weird that they're all guys or anything."
On top of being the only girl on the team, Wishard said she realizes her second obstacle is her freshman status.
"It's going to be hard," Wishard said. "It's one of those things where the older guys kind of have their core group set, and me just coming in, and me being the only girl, it's just hard."
Her head coach, Mike Robinson, said one of the things he's trying to improve is her availability with the team in order to build camaraderie with her teammates.
"The biggest challenge that I can see right now is trying to incorporate her more with the team so that she's more a part of the team and not so segregated," Robinson said.
Fellow freshman Ryan Kellogg said he realizes the type of work it takes to play at their level, but he's confident Wishard's hard work will pay off to her advantage.
"She's got the heart to play," Kellogg said. "It's a lot of work to play at that next level, it's hard for me, but I think she can pull it off."
Hockey is known as a very physical game, but Wishard said she isn't worried about hitting. In fact, she said that's what she likes most about it because she wasn't allowed to check in women's hockey.
"It adds a level of intimidation," Wishard said. "I'm not out there looking for blood or anything, but I'm certainly not gonna try and shoo it away if it comes towards me."
In their first three games, two players have already been concussed. As far as her playing goes, Robinson said he could not have been more impressed with the dedication Wishard shows to the game.
"The thing with Alexa is that she does everything right," Robinson said. "She's the first one to practice, the last one to leave. She's just a good player, she's a good model, and at some point I would love to reward her with some playing time."
The Tigers' season hasn't exactly started the way that they'd like to, with an 0-6 start, but Wishard is confident that when she sees the ice, she can make an impact.
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