January 21, 2008

By Mike Scandura

Special to usahockey.com

Even though Mercyhurst sophomore Meghan Agosta has accomplished more in the last two years than most players accomplish in a career, neither Lakers coach Mike Sisti nor Agosta consider her a finished product.

"The neat thing with Meghan is, as talented as she is, there are still so many ways in which she can improve," Sisti said of his star forward who is on the Patty Kazmaier Award watch list for the second year in a row. "This year she's an assistant captain and leads on and off the ice. To have her in a leadership role at a young age is nice to see because she earned the responsibility and is leading by example - and is focused on her work ethic.

"All those things are going to help her improve as a hockey player."

Consider this of Agosta, who last year as a freshman was one of the three finalists for the award:

* She was the youngest member of the gold medal-winning Team Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, and in a scene straight out of a Hollywood movie, posted a hat trick against Russia on her 19th birthday.

* The American Hockey Coaches Association voted her a Division I First Team All-American as a freshman, which complemented the CHA Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year awards she received.

* Last season she set school records for goals (38), points (74), game-winning goals (11) and short-handed goals (6). The 11 game-winning goals led the nation, while the six short-handed goals tied for the lead, and she also tied for second with 16 power-play goals.

* Through the team’s 24 games through Jan. 21, Agosta was in the midst of a school-record 18-game point scoring streak and was leading the nation in goals (31). She had already had notched six short-handed and 11 power-play goals.

"I still learn a lot from my teammates," Agosta said. "It's not like I'm done growing as a hockey player. The best thing about sports is a team is like a family and you learn from each other.

"That's awesome."

Agosta said she realized long ago that to succeed at such a high level required more than just showing up at the rink and throwing your skates on the ice.

'You can't play at a high level without working as hard off the ice as you do on the ice," she said. "There are things I need to work on, like getting stronger.    

"On the ice I need to work more on my defensive zone play. There are little things each individual needs to improve on and those are things I need to improve on."

Without question, Agosta has taken her new role as an assistant captain to heart, and isn't just wearing the "A" on her jersey as an adornment.

"I've been in big games, and being a leader on my team this year is important," she said. "I'm just trying to take the younger players under my belt and show them the ropes. When I go to the national level, I look up to (the captains), too.

"Being young, and even though I've played in the Olympics, I still have childhood heroes. I know what they do to compete at a high level. They inspire me to work hard and continue working as an athlete. That's what I have to do with the younger players we have."

One thing the younger (or even most of the older) players on Mercyhurst don't have to do is deal with is all the hype and media attention a player of Agosta's caliber receives.

"First of all I think having the media coming and covering me and women's hockey is great," Agosta said. "The more opportunities a hockey team has to have media talk to them about a game is awesome.

"I really don't mind it. It's something that goes along with playing at an elite level. Plus, it's good for women's hockey."

How good Agosta can become is something that Sisti finds hard to fathom.

"Granted, Meghan is very focused on trying to become an elite athlete and getting her education and her degree (Agosta is a criminal law and justice major)," said Sisti. "But given what she's accomplished already, she has the potential to be one of the greats that's ever played the game, which is saying a lot.

"Obviously, because of her age she could play in five Olympics before all is said and done. So far she's done most of what she's done on shear talent and pride. But now when she learns how to compete every day and train on and off the ice, and gets more experience, I think the sky's the limit."

Story courtesy of Red Line Editorial, Inc.