AMIDST RECORD-BREAKING START, 19U GIRLS STILL FOCUSED ON BUILDING WINNING FOUNDATION

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — You win some. You lose some.

 

If we’re being honest, that time-worn sports cliché hasn’t truly applied to the BK Selects girls program over the years. With little exception, they’ve won a lot and they’ve lost just a few.

 

But this season, the 19U girls have taken that long-term performance trend to a new level. 

 

With two months of the schedule in the history books, they have literally not lost a single game — their record is a stunning 30-0-0 after posting six more wins at the Premier Ice Prospects’ Roc City Girls Fest from Nov. 1-3.

 

“I am seeing intentionality with our group, both on and off the ice,” said first-year 19U Head Coach Chelsea Walkland. “This team is in many ways a veteran group, where the majority of the players have been a part of the BK program for several years. They are really driven athletes and have a hunger to get better every day.”

 

As the results from the Roc City event show, the 19Us aren’t taking their foot off the gas pedal. Over the six games, they outscored their opponents by a combined goal differential of 31-3. 

 

The only outcome that was in doubt over that weekend was a 2-1 win over Northwood School in the semifinal round; BK went on to outgun the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers, 5-1, in the final to claim another banner.

 

“This team is a group of really special, driven, and competitive girls who strive to get better each day,” said senior forward Bella Fanale (Webster, N.Y. / University of Minnesota). 

 

“Not many people get the opportunity to be a part of a team like this one. I think the first couple months of the season, our team has grown and developed so much together, but also as individuals. It’s eye-opening to see how much fine-tuning the little details has impacted the team over the course of just a couple of months.”

 

Fanale, who led the 19Us with eight goals in the Roc City event, said examples of those “little details” include comfortably playing pucks off the boards, faceoff assignments, shooting off the catch without stickhandling and “reloading” defensively up the middle. 

 

All of these things — and many more, to be clear — add up to the small edges that often prove decisive during games. But beyond the nitty-gritty, the fact that the team culture emphasizes a thorough approach in practice speaks well of the passion of the people involved. 

 

“Our team is extremely competitive, especially in our practices, which makes putting in the work easy,” said junior defender Shayla Beaudette (Aurora, Colo. / University of Wisconsin). 

 

“We like to have fun and it shows in games with our ability to score and make plays. Our team is really special and a privilege to play for. The staff and culture of our program is truly the best and I am really grateful for it!”

 

Both Beaudette and Fanale were complimentary of how Walkland has been able to both assimilate to the BK Selects program, while also putting her own individual stamp on it.

 

A Rochester native, Walkland took over the 19Us this summer after a highly-successful tenure as assistant coach for the Colgate University women’s hockey team. Like her players above, Walkland hammered home the importance of intense, focused training when it comes to powering performance under pressure.

 

“The practice environment at BK is hyper-competitive and we try to be really thoughtful with what we teach and the areas that we work on,” Walkland said. “We try to instill a growth mindset. We take the approach that feedback is everywhere and try to see how we can take that feedback to incrementally get a little better each day. 

 

“We also encourage our players to be the drivers of their own development. We talk a lot about being reflective of where they are, where they want to go and then try to be really intentional about how they want to get there.”

 

To that point, Fanale and Beaudette mentioned they were putting in extra time on individual goals that figure to help the team succeed. For instance, both have spent considerable effort this year trying to enhance their foot speed.

 

This granular approach has another benefit: It ensures that the team and its individual members don’t get too caught up in the results, whether they be good or bad. 

 

“We try not to worry about our wins and losses, because no matter the record, every game matters,” Fanale said. “It’s just a mindset that is instilled in our team and that we hold each other accountable to. That’s all outside noise for us, and we just do our best to stay the course and focus on what's in front of us.”

 

Easy to say, but much more difficult to execute, especially when things have gone historically well to start. That’s why these foundational months can be so crucial in the BK Selects’ hunt for their first USA Hockey national championship come springtime. 

 

“Every practice, every game, every workout, it’s awesome to see how everyone is so dialed in and ready to get better,” Fanale added. “It’s such an amazing environment to be around and I really do think the culture we have created within our team over the past few months is the reason why we have been very successful.”