With her Edge School Mountaineers Midget Prep girl’s hockey career in the bag, Cochrane’s Daria O’Neill is stepping up to the next level.
Edge won the Junior Women’s Hockey League (JWHL) bronze medal March 8 in Boston with a 4-0 win over Washington (DC) Pride, and wraps a season in which the Team Alberta defenceman committed to the University of Vermont Catamounts on a four-year scholarship in November. The Catamounts play in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Div. 1 women’s Hockey East Conference.
“Now that I have that process of knowing where I will be going to school and playing hockey next year over with, I feel like I can actually take a deep breath,” O’Neill says.
O’Neill, a student at Edge in Springbank since 2012, was unsure of her collegiate hockey career at first, fielding offers from several NCAA schools in the United States. After paying a visit to the Burlington, Vt., campus last spring, she knew she wanted to be a Catamount.
“I wanted to find a coaching staff that I connected with, and everyone there is motivated to do well,” O’Neill says. “They’ve become a much stronger team over the last few seasons in their conference (Hockey East) and I wanted to be a part of that.
“Along with that, the campus is amazing as well and there is such an amazing atmosphere when you walk around the university.”
A self-described stay-at-home defenceman, O’Neill has been one of the leaders for the Mountaineers team for the last three seasons, setting a career high last year with 33 points (13 goals and 20 assists) in 49 games.
In 26 JWHL games this season, the team captain has six goals and 12 assists.
“Daria’s a solid hockey player who does the little things right,” Mountaineers head coach Carla MacLeod says. “It’s great to see her efforts being rewarded and to have the chance to play for a school in the United States.”
“It’s a long-term goal for these girls to find a place to not only play hockey but to future their education, and for Daria to know where she is going already is a testament to her hard work,” she adds.
O’Neill, who plans to study business at Vermont, arrives in Burlington in August, where she wants to make an impact at the team’s training camp.
“In the NCAA ranks, you have to earn your ice time during every practice and in every game,” O’Neill surmises. “My plan is to go in there with a strong mindset that is ready to get to work as soon as I arrive on campus.”
Daria O’Neill, 17, Cochrane
Senior defenceman
Edge School Mountaineers Midget Prep girl’s hockey
Team Alberta U18 female
6g, 12a in 26 JWHL games
Committed NCAA University of Vermont Catamounts
