 The Beaver women's hockey team now sits 8-11 in one, but coming into the season, there were a lot of question marks, mainly, how would the Beavers replace their eight seniors? Returning players have stepped into new roles, but it's their freshman that have fueled the Beavers. Coming into her first season of collegiate hockey, Kiki Radke, like many of her teammates, was unsure of the role she'd play on this year's team, especially since she'd be transitioning from center to wing. It was a lot to take in when you have big defensemen coming down on you, but you kind of get into the swing of things, and after the first series or first week or so of practice, you kind of get used to the pace, and you start to fit right in with everyone else. But Radke has settled in nicely, playing in 17 of the Beavers' 19 games, contributing two goals and five assists, and consistently playing on BSU's top line. Kiki has been just a real spark plug for us all year long. She plays so hard, she plays with a lot of energy, extremely hard working, and then you combine that with her speed. She's noticeable every time she's on the ice. However, she isn't the only freshman adding to the team's success. Six of the seven BSU freshmen have combined for 29 of the team's 106 points, equating to just over 27 percent of BSU's total offense. The entire freshman class has done, in my opinion, a real nice job. They work extremely hard. They're competitive. No moment seems to be too big for them. She's been really, really impressed with every single one of them. Every game, you feel like you're getting better. Your confidence grows. It's a big step. This league is really challenging, so it's nice to get experience every night that we can. And although the newcomers have been thrust into some prominent roles on the ice, they say it's exactly what they wanted. And with 12 games to go, they hope to take what they've learned from a rigorous first half of the season and turn it into wins the second half. We're hoping to use our experiences and confidence going in with the second half of the season and hopefully knocking a couple more wins. The Beaver women now have a month-long break. They'll be back on the ice January 13th and 14th at Ohio State. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.