The women’s hockey team has gotten off to a fast start on a season that already has all the indications of becoming a special one. The Red (5-3-0, 5-1-0 ECAC) currently sits in second place in the ECAC and is ranked seventh in the nation.

Less than a month into the season, the Red has five key league victories –– among them a 2-0 shutout win over first-place Clarkson (12-2-1, 6-1-0 ECAC).

Two of the Red’s three losses came out of conference against Mercyhurst (9-1-0), who this week was unanimously voted the No. 1 team in the nation.

The Red is returning virtually the same team that it had last year. Three seniors graduated, and one member of the Red, Rebecca Johnston, is currently taking a year off to train with the Canadian National Team in hopes of playing in the upcoming Winter Olympics.

The loss of Johnston is a significant one, as she led the team in points last year with 25 goals and 20 assists. However, then-freshman Catherine White only trailed her point total by one last season, and is now back with a full year of collegiate experience under her belt.

Plenty of other players have already stepped up in Johnston’s absence. Captains Kelly McGinty and Liz Zorn, along with Melanie Jue and Laura Danforth are the Red’s sole seniors on the team, and are looking to make their last season a great one. They have led the team with their play on the ice, as well as off the ice.

“Having so many returners definitely gives us an advantage,” Zorn said. “Especially for the seniors on the team who have been playing together for four years. Along with the coaching staff, we’ve been working really hard for a while now. We feel like we’re finally starting to reach what we’ve been striving towards for four years. Last year really helped us get better, having such a strong core group of returners is very important.”

The Red (12-14-5 in 2008-09) has clearly shown significant improvement from last season to now. The team already has wins against both Harvard and Dartmouth, where as last year in six total games including the playoffs, the Red didn’t beat either team once.

The Red does not attribute its improved play to anything specific, but rather to its team chemistry as a whole.

“I think that we’re really gelling well as a team,” said sophomore forward Chelsea Kar­penko, who was third on the team last year with 21 points. “Everyone’s working together and putting the team first.”

Despite its success, the Red recognizes the fact that it still has plenty of room to improve. Among other things, the power play unit has not been strong so far for the Red; last weekend against Clarkson and St. Lawrence it went 0 for 7.

“There’s a lot that we need to improve on; being tough in front of the net, getting the puck in the zone at their blue line and out at our blue line … we’re just going to stick to our game plan and play the way that works for us,” Karpenko said.

One of the brightest spots on the season thus far has been the play of sophomore goaltender Amanda Mazzotta, who last year as a freshman appeared in only six games for the Red.

Mazzotta has already posted shutouts against Dartmouth, Union and Clarkson, absorbing strong offensive pushes by opponents at crucial junctures to keep the Red in games.

Looking forward, a challenge that the Red will face this season is having to play nine out of its last 14 regular season games on the road, away from the friendly confines of Lynah Rink.

The grind of a long season can wear teams down, and the extra travel certainly will not help. Trips to Harvard, Dartmouth and Clarkson will be particularly daunting, as they will all be out for revenge. But still, that is the last thing that is on the Red’s mind.

“We’re really just taking it one game at a time,” Zorn said. “We’ve still got a lot to improve on. But as a team we know where we want to be at the end of the season, and we definitely have high expectations.”