Leaving Her Mark
Moorhead, Minn. --- Come to the Moorhead Sports Center this weekend and you'll most likely see No.18 for the Cobbers passing out numerous high fives.
Anna Westmark is just happy to be out on the ice with her Concordia teammates.
Westmark and the Cobbers were chosen to finish third in the MIAC preseason coaches' poll and lived up to the top 3 billing as they are 2-2 in the conference and 2-2 overall so far this year.
The team opened the season by dropping a pair of close 5-4 decisions at, then No.11-ranked, Wisc.-Stevens Point 5-4 on consecutive nights.
Westmark was a sensation that in Wisconsin. Playing with family and friends looking on, she tallied two goals and an assist against the Pointers which included a dramatic goal on Saturday that forced the teams to skate into overtime.
The performance across the border did not go unnoticed as she was named the MIAC Player of the Week for the second time in her career. The first time coming, what seems like a lifetime ago, in her freshman year when she posted four points in a sweep of St. Catherine.
Westmark has been a key cog in the team's early success. She has now tallied three goals and three assists for six total points which is second on the team. While her contribution in the scorebook might seem like a big help for the team, Westmark's s early season successes are more revealing of the character within.
As a sophomore, Westmark donned the "A" for assistant captain. After a good sophomore campaign she received a promotion. Last season there was a big Cobber "C" stitched into her jersey indicating captain status.
Two weeks into pre-season practices that year Westmark was participating in a drill when she collided with a teammate. The blow knocked her to the ice and she felt sharp pains coming from her knee. Westmark had torn the ACL in her left knee.
With hopes of still playing, she began to rehab. The knee wasn't healing correctly and the decision was made to have surgery.
It's provided her with a new degree of perspective. Westmark commented, " Trying to be leader but not being on the ice was extremely difficult. I did everything I could to keep that role."
The role is definitely still hers.
Head coach Jason Gregoire said it was a no-brainer getting the "C" stitched back onto Westmark's uniform for her senior season.
"It was a huge blow (last year) not having Anna," Gregoire said, "She was a captain for us as a junior and worked really hard last year when the doctor gave her the green light. She's been playing really well. She's so smart. It's nice having her out there because she can make up for mistakes and is a coach on the ice for us."
Westmark is part of a family tradition at Concordia which so many other student/athletes have followed. Her grandmother, mother, brother and sister were all Cobbers. The fact that she could participate in hockey while pursuing her degree in Dietetics was just a plus.
Westmark knows exactly where the current team is headed in her final season of hockey. When asked how far the Cobbers could go this season Westmark swiftly replied, "All the way."
Whether "all the way" means deep into the MIAC tournament or deep into the NCAA playoffs that remains to be seen.
Gregoire sees a similar ceiling and shares a common vision with Westmark.
"We have a good recipe, as I like to say, for being successful on a weekly basis," Gregoire said, "We are fast up the boards, physical and good in the nets. The girls know we are looking to raise a banner this year. We have the talent and the effort is there so we are just going to keep working and see where it takes us."
Written by Sports Information Intern Austin Hawkins