St. Norbert hockey teams sharing success on the ice this season

ASHWAUBENON (WLUK) -- The St. Norbert men's and women's hockey teams are sharing success on the ice this season.

The men's team set a program record last week, winning 17 straight games.

Senior forward Peter Bates said it comes down to hard work.

"I think we're a lot better team than when we won the first of our 17-game win streak," said Bates. "We know it's happening, but we're just trying to win the next game we play."

The Green Knights dropped three of their first four games, something head coach Tim Coghlin said has played a big role in keeping this win streak alive.

"We started the season 1-3. It still feels like we're 1-3," said Coghlin. "It feels like we're chasing the entire year. For our guys, it's knowing the importance of every single game."

To outsiders, the streak is an impressive feat, but it's business as usual for a program used to winning.

"I know our guys are aware of it. Internally, there's some talk about it, but it really doesn't matter because of how important each game is," said Coghlin.

The Green Knights are currently ranked fifth in the nation, and undefeated in conference play. They are second in the standings, two points behind Adrian College.

To reach their end goal, Coghlin says three things have to be in place.

"You have to have a goaltender that's capable of winning a national championship, you need senior leadership, so you have to have a good group seniors, and your best players have to be your hardest workers," he said. "All of the ingredients are there, the question is can they all shine at one time?"

While the men chase their sixth national championship, a few rinks over, the women's team is making a name for itself.

"Everyone knows about it. Everyone's talking. Everyone's coming to our games. It's definitely a great feeling to have," said sophomore forward Morgan Olson.

"We started off on a good roll," said head coach A.J. Aitken. "Girls have been working hard and getting success on the ice. It's been a fun ride this year."

After spending 11 years on the men's coaching staff, AJ Aitken jumped over to the women's side. Two seasons in, the winning culture he hoped to carry over is starting to shine through.

"This team had success early on in its career, and we certainly want to get back to that championship way," he said.

"I think he really brought the intensity over," said Olson. "I really think that he brought a different side over here that definitely got all the other girls going and it's awesome."

The team is 8-3 in conference play and currently one point behind Aurora for the top spot in the standings.

"We all just motivate each other, all work as hard as we can with each other and put our all out there every game," said Olson.

"They see that they've got a good group together here, and I think that's what's driving our motivation right now, that you know what, we can do this," said Aitken.

As the two teams reach the final stretch, they're pushing each other toward one goal.

"It definitely motivates us to try harder because we want to be able to be up there with them and have both men's and women's team doing really well would be awesome," said Olson.

"It's great to see them doing well and root for everybody else just like any athlete at St. Norbert," said Bates.

"There's no doubt in my mind he would turn that program around," said Coghlin. "We'd like to see them go a long ways."