Posted: 02/14/07

A sticky situation
The women's ice hockey team loses its second goalie in two weeks

Michelle Bookless | multimedia editor
mbookless2@smcvt.edu

In the past two weeks, St. Michael’s College women’s ice hockey team has been confronted with the loss of both of their goalies — one to injury and one to a forced dismissal. With only six games left until the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) open tournament the team is left with two stand-in goalies.

Kristen Salierno's recovery is expected to take up to four months. In the meantime, Anne Altieri has stepped in as one the team's required second goalie. (Michelle Bookless, photo)

This season the women’s hockey team only had two goalies: sophomore Melanie Cullen and sophomore Kristen Salierno. Senior captain Melissa Gagne says this is rare, as most college teams have three or four goalies.Thus, when Salierno broke her hand on Feb. 1, the team was left with only one functioning goalie. Salierno’s recovery is expected to take up to four months. On Feb. 13 the second goalie, Melanie Cullen was removed from the team due to a series of conflicts with other players and the coaches.

Although Donovan and assistant coach Anne Blair were unavailable for comment, Seth Cole, St. Michael's sports information director confirmed the news. Yet, he says that he is unsure of the specifics regarding the situation.

Head coach Chris Donovan says that in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), a team is required to have two goalies dressed and on the bench for every game. After Salierno's break it was relatively easy to fill her position, as sophomore forward Anne Altieri readily stepped up for the job.

And then there were none

Although Altieri practices as a goalie, she had yet to see any game time at the beginning of this week while Cullen was playing two games a weekend. Although both coaches agreed that she had stepped up to the challenge and was playing well, the tables have turned yet again.

With Cullen's removal from the team, Altieri may be seeing more playing time than she had originally planned for and first-year forward Sarah Landis will have to start practicing as a goalie right away.

At the beginning of the week Blair had said, “We have a lot of confidence in [Cullen]. I know that she will be able to perform at her best for the tournament.”

However, on Feb.13 the confidence may have run out as Cullen was called into a meeting with the coaches and told that she would no longer be a member of the team.

A few players, who spoke to the Echo on the condition that their names not be used, say that Cullen's removal from the team stemmed from conflicts with the coaches and players.

"In the middle of the season, [Cullen] got really upset because she got pulled during a game and yelled obscenities at the coaches and other players on the team," one player says.

Indeed, the final straw may have come after a game last weekend when the player says that Cullen directed negative comments to specific players and blamed the loss on them. "She was consistently bringing the team down with her negative attitude," the player says.

Cullen declined to comment on the issue.

Team players

Before she learned of Cullen's dismissal, Altieri said she knew that by taking Salierno's position she probably wouldn't see any game time for the rest of the season, yet she still felt it was the right thing to do. “I just figured if somebody was going to have to do it, it was going to be me,” Altieri says.

Donovan says he was pleased by her willingness to help the team and step up as a team player and that he didn't even think of other players to put in the position.

“I actually told Anne that, on my way home as I was thinking of the players that might step up to do it, that she was probably my number-one-choice as the person that would,” he says.

Although there is one other player on the team who has experience in the position, Altieri says that she didn't think the coaches should have to ask for players to fill the position. In addition, she says that even though Landis has experience as a goalie, she didn’t want to see her give up her current position on the team.

“I really like watching her play,” Altieri says. “She worked her butt off to get to where she is and I didn’t want to take that away from her.”

Now, in an ironic twist of events, Landis has volunteered to fill the second goalie position that was vacated by Cullen.

A team trial

For Altieri, the new position has its fair share of challenges, as it is very different from the forward position Altieri is used to. Blair says that being a goalie is very specific and is completely different not only in terms of playing and movement, but also in terms of equipment such as skates and pads.

NCAA rules state that a hockey team must have two goalies dressed and on the bench at every game. (Michelle Bookless, photo)

Gagne says that Alteri is exceeding her expectations.

“She’s doing great in practice [despite] not knowing any basic things in goal,” she says.

Alteri says she is catching on but still thinks she looks silly as a goalie. “I ask people how goofy I look,” she says. “I wish I could see myself do it.”

In actuality, Altieri stepping up to take Salierno's position may have been a blessing in disguise. Alteri says that with her playing goalie, the team has gotten a chance to loosen up more. “They get to laugh at me during warm-ups,” she says. “We’re kind of more relaxed now and that’s sort of something we haven’t had all season."

Donovan says that Altieri’s decision has highlighted the level of teamwork between the women.

“The fact that Anne stepped up actually increased the camaraderie among the players a little,” Donovan says.

St. Michael's is due to play in the Eastern College Athletic Conference open tournament, which takes place on Feb. 24 and 25.