For the first time in her University of Maine women’s ice hockey career, Ida Kuoppala didn’t lead the Black Bears in scoring last season with just seven goals and eight assists in 35 games.
But she is proving that the 2022-23 season was an aberration.
The fifth-year senior and assistant captain is the Black Bears’ top scorer with 27 points on 15 goals and 12 assists in 21 games. The right winger’s five game-winning goals are tied for first in the country among players at 44 Division I schools. Her .75 goals per game is tied for ninth and her 1.35 points per game is 14th.
“She is having an outstanding season,” said UMaine second-year head coach Molly Engstrom. “She is trying to continue to learn as a leader, which is invaluable and is what we need right now.”
Kuoppala admitted that last year was tough for her and she wanted to bounce back this season.
“It’s always about hard work. If things don’t go your way, you can’t stop [working],” said the native of Pedersore, Finland.
“I had a great offseason back home. I worked hard. And we have a great group here,” Kuoppala added. “It’s really fun playing hockey right now. My linemates, Freddie (Ann-Frederique Guay) and Ava (Ava Stevenson) are great. I’m enjoying every minute of it.”
Guay, a transfer from Norwich University, leads the team with 17 goals and her .80 goals-per game is eighth best in the country.
Kuoppala burst onto the scene her freshman season with 19 goals and 14 assists for 33 points. She led the team in goals and points.
She was one of just two players who were unanimous choices to the Hockey East All-Rookie team and she was on U.S. College Hockey Online’s national All-Rookie team. She also earned a spot on the All-Hockey East third team.
She tallied 10 goals and five assists in 16 games during the COVID-shortened campaign in 2020-21 and 10 goals and 14 assists in 35 games during the 2021-22 season.
The Black Bears host Northeastern University for the first of a two-game series on Friday night at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m.
Kuoppala has 114 career points on 61 goals and 53 assists, and she is 15 points away from tying the school record owned by Tereza Vanisova.
“There have been a lot of ups and downs,” Kuoppala said. “There was COVID, new coaches. But it has been great. Getting to know all your teammates and the new coaches and everything has been really fun.”
The Black Bears are currently 10-11-0 overall and 6-8 in Hockey East and are in seventh place.
Six-time league champion Northeastern is currently in third place behind Boston College and UConn, so the league title appears to be up for grabs for the first time in seven years.
“In my four years, everyone was in survival mode against Northeastern most of the time. Seeing how the league is so close gets me more fired up because we actually have a chance,” Kuoppala said. “We have a good team. I trust my teammates and we have a great goalie (Julia Bachetti). I’m excited.”
Kuoppala said the primary focus now is on the small details.
“It has been a growing process. We’re still learning a lot. We have a young team but the coaching staff is doing a great job creating a [winning] environment,” she said. “Women’s hockey is definitely on the right path to make history.”
