INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM Shannon Tarrant '07 talks hockey with us...

Author: Ryan Reese, Sports Editor

The Campus: When did you start playing hockey?

Shannon Tarrant: Umm, I started skating when I was three and didn't start organized hockey until I was in third grade. I played with the boys until seventh grade and it was really fun. Then, I played with girls and boys during middle school. In high school, I just played with girls. I went to the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut and I absolutely loved it. I actually want to go back and work there some day. Oh…my dad actually coached me there my freshman year. That was a lot of fun too.

Campus: Why did you come to Middlebury?

ST: When I was sophomore, I met Coach [Bill] Mandigo and loved him. It's always been important to me to have a good coach. I mean I've only had two other coaches and one of them was my dad. [She laughs.] I wanted to come to a small school in country and when I got here I knew it was right. My recruiting visit was awesome and I stayed with Kate Kogut and Gloria Velez. It was great to see how close their relationship was and I knew that was exactly what I wanted.

Campus: Your college career hasn't been that bad with two National Championship and probably a third…

ST: Knock on wood…

Campus: With that kind of success, what goals do you set for yourself at the beginning of each season?

ST: We actually write out our goals before each season. We always want to have more fun than the year before and want the team chemistry to be better than ever. A lot of it's on ice, but so much is off the ice and preseason. Stuff like how many plyos, how many stadiums can you do. We want to win a NESCAC title since we lost it freshman year and we want to be the best team we can be. I really don't think we've done that yet this year.

Campus: 14-0-0 so far this year. Do you think you can go the distance undefeated?

ST: Well I mean, um…we try not to use the word undefeated. [She laughs.] We have the strongest team I've ever been a part of. We have a lot of potential and an unbelievable goalie. The team has a ton of great seniors and amazing leaders. We have the makings of a very good team. We're playing Bowdoin on their ice this weekend and it'll be packed. That will be pretty intense. I guess we'll see. [She pauses.] I hope so.

Campus: You guys seem like a pretty close team. Who has the weirdest pre-game routine?

ST: Ohh…Ok. There's a couple. Emily Quizon ['06], she's absolutely amazing. She always has to juggle some tennis balls or something and she has to play with a soccer ball. I guess that's not that weird, but between Abby Kurtz-Phelan ['07], Mac [Emily MacNamara '07] and Shannon Sylvester ['07], they always have these little army guys on the bench. They keep them there all the time. I don't know. That's pretty weird to me.

Campus: Do you have any superstitions yourself?

ST: I always have to walk around the third floor of Kenyon. Like above the basketball courts. I go with one of the faculty's kids - it's usually Mandigo's daughter. We just walk around and play little kids games.

Campus: Do you have any songs that you listen to before you hit the ice?

ST: Um…I'm kind of weird and I like to talk to people a lot before the games. It's usually not anybody on the team because they're all pretty intense. I'm always hanging out with little kids, but I am in charge of the remote for the music during pregame. Most of the songs are upbeat and fun. Nothing really intense like AC/DC or other hardcore stuff. "I'm In a Hurry to Get Things Done?" Do you know that one? I always listen to that before I head down to the rink, I guess.

Campus: Which NESCAC team is your favorite opponent and why?

ST: Williams always gives us a great game and I respect that team a lot. They always have their "A" game and push us to bring ours as well. I love their rink as well. It's a known fact that we hate Bowdoin though. We all hate Bowdoin. It's always our biggest game of the season and it always seems to come down to them and us for the NESCAC championship. Those games are always really fun to be involved in.

Campus: Are there any teams that you don't look forward to playing against?

ST: I mean...this year the NESCAC had been up and down against everyone. I didn't really look forward to play against Wesleyan this year. Last year they were the worst team in the league and we killed 'em. We had a double header against them and I didn't really want to drive all the way down to Connecticut for a bad game. They actually played us pretty tough, but I would have to say that it's harder to get excited about playing the least competitive teams in the league.

Campus: What stick do you use?

ST: I use a rubber. Yep…a TPS Rubber. As you can imagine, there are some great comments that come from that. Yeah, I get kind of nervous when it breaks. [She laughs.] And Harrow. They make good sticks too. Those two are my favorite but I've used a TPS rubber since sophomore year in high school, I think.

Campus: How many do you think you break over the course of a season?

ST: Both of my sticks are two pieces because Mandigo won't let me use a one piece. I break probably eight blades a season and maybe two shafts. Wow…the best one was the first day of the season. I was skating pretty hard pretending like I was a great player. I went around the back of the net and got my stick caught up. My stick got shoved into me and it cut my stomach and that was the first blade I broke this year. Yeah…It was a great way to start a season.

Campus: Who's your favorite NHL player?

ST: Bobby Orr. I'm obsessed with Bobby Orr and I want to be just like him when I grow up. And current, well…I'm a big New York Rangers fan. I have a New York Rangers outfit that I wear around all the time. It's pretty cute. I'm a big Brian Leetch fan even thought he's not with the team anymore. From the Rangers now, I like [Darius] Kasparitis.

Campus: Are you excited to see how the U.S. women's team does in Italy?

ST: Ahh yeah…I cant wait! I've played with three of the girls on the team. Kaitlin Kahow was my defense partner in high school and I played against another two while I was at Hotchkiss. Kahow's an amazing athlete in all the sports she plays. She's at Harvard right now and I'm really excited to watch her. I played against probably six others in Olympic Development Program when I was younger and my dad coached two of the girls on the current team as well. I'm really excited.

- Ryan Reese, Sports Editor