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27 GEARING UP Stilwell also had to deal with figuring out the equip- ment aspect. Through practices she mostly borrowed equipment but with the actuality of playing in a game, she called mom to bring her gear. As moms do, Stilwell's drove down that night—two days before the team was leaving for Ohio State. "I kept it in my dorm room for a day or two, and then my gear was not up to collegiate standards, so the team had a lot of extra stuff for me to have," Stilwell said. "I needed some white pads they had there. I used the men's goalie's (Dryden McKay) older gloves and a catcher and other stuff they gave me, but I couldn't close the glove, so I used my own glove which has green lace from high school, so it was a hodgepodge, just everything I could get my hands on." All of this insanity was just the prelude to making the trip to Ohio State, which at that time boasted an power- house offensive attack and a 10-2 record. "It was extremely intense," said Stilwell. "I don't think I'd ever been so nervous. Nothing really com- pared to that. I was questioning myself a lot, like why would I do this and what am I doing here. But everyone around me was so supportive from my teammates on the hockey team and tennis team to both coaches too. There were no expectations. And the amount of people that reached out to me from back home, it felt like the whole hockey community was watching." ROCK STAR On Friday the Buckeyes handed the Mavs a 6-3 loss, with Stilwell making an incredible 45 saves. On Saturday she stopped another 39 in a 9-0 loss. " We ran out of gas the nex t day, but she was being a rock star there for us and our girls loved hav ing her," said Harring ton, who had Frank back for the rest of the season a f ter that series. "I tell ever ybody a f unny stor y about that, we give out an award a f ter the game for our player of the game and the player who w ins it the prev ious night gives it to the nex t person. Aver y won it Friday, and the nex t night we tell her to pick someone out and she goes, 'OK, I k now who I want to give it to, but I don't k now ever ybody 's name on the team. "If that doesn't sum up the entire situation, I don't know what. But again, she was just so great coming in and help- ing us out. You couldn't ask for a better person." Stilwell still laughs when she thinks about the chaos of it all but notes she's really happy that she went through with it. Does that mean there's a potential for her to return to the crease anytime soon? "I think I'll stick with the tennis team." M A R C H 2 0 2 2 | M H J ON L I N E . C O M Stilwell used a smorgasbord of goalie equipment for her Mavericks' hockey debut, including some gear from two-time All- American Dryden McKay of the men's team. G POSITION: Litchfield HEIGHT: COLLEGE: Minnesota State University 6' 0" HOMETOWN: FUN FACTS: Stilwell competed as a three- sport athlete at Litchfield, playing tennis, hockey, and softball. In tennis she was a six-year starter who earned all- conference honors five times with an overall record of 168-31. In hockey she was a four-time all-conference selection as a goalie with a .930 save percentage (a school record). In softball she ended her career with .459 average including 28 doubles, 19 home runs and 97 RBI. AVERY STILWELL