WATERBURY, Conn. — It hasn't taken long for Brainerd native Macy Peterson to adapt to the level of competition in Division I hockey. The freshman forward has stepped into a big role at Connecticut-based Post University and she is already one of the top players on the squad.
As of early November, Peterson is second on the Eagles roster in total points scored with two goals and three assists over 11 contests so far in 2023-24. Unlike many other freshman jumping into Division I college hockey for the first time, the 5-foot-8 forward isn't afraid to shoot the puck. She leads Post in shots on goal with 29, which is seven more than the next closest skater on the team.
"I knew coming in that I needed to get shots on goal and create offense, so that's what I'm going to do," Peterson told The Rink Live. "I definitely like the new pace of play."
She's not just excelling at the scoring component of the game either, she's shining on the faceoff dot, too. As just a freshman, Peterson has won 83 out of 157 faceoffs so far, which is a solid 52.9% win rate. That just so happens to be the most faceoffs taken out of anyone on the squad and its quite rare for a Division I hockey team to put such a young skater into so many make-it-or-break-it moments on the dot unless they fully trust that the player can handle the pressure and come up with a win.
What's interesting though is that Peterson isn't actually playing at center much, she is mostly just taking a lot of faceoffs as a winger. She had a lot of experience playing at center in high school for Brainerd though, so she can realistically step in to play either position when it's needed. The 19-year-old posted 64 points for the Brainerd/Little Falls Warriors over 89 varsity contests.
ADVERTISEMENT
Post University is an independent, for-profit school in Waterbury, Connecticut, which is about 30 miles southwest of the capital city of Hartford. It's Division I women's ice hockey era started in 2019-20, so it's still a fairly new program. The Eagles compete in the New England Women's Hockey Alliance (NEWHA) among schools like Sacred Heart, Franklin Pierce and Long Island.
The Eagles typically recruit a lot of athletes from Canada (over half the roster) and there's only one other Minnesotan on the team this year aside from Peterson, which just so happens to be junior netminder Grace Glasrud of Delano. Glasrud has been one of the girls that has been helping the Brainerd native in her transition into playing Division I hockey over 1,300 miles away from home.
"Grace is one of our captains and she's also from Minnesota, she's been a big mentor, her dedication and passion for the game definitely inspires me," Peterson said about her fellow State of Hockey teammate.
Post currently holds a 3-8 overall record in 2023-24 with wins over Stonehill and Saint Michael's College (2). The Eagles had a bit of a bumpy start to the season but have started to string together a few wins here and there. The squad sits in fourth place out of eight teams in the NEWHA conference as of early November.
Peterson said that life on the East Coast is certainly different than life in Minnesota. One thing that she had to get used to early on was the 30-minute commute to the rink that Post plays at the Sports Center of Connecticut in Shelton. She did say though that it has been nice to have weather that's not nearly as cold as back home in Minnesota. It has also been a fairly easy transition academically for Peterson, who is majoring in criminal justice.
"It's been pretty nice, the school is pretty small so all the class sizes are small and all the professors are really nice, so that's really made it easier for me," she said.
Peterson is excited to see what the rest of the season will bring for her and her team at Post. Up next for the Eagles is a tough mid-week contest at No. 8-ranked Quinnipiac prior to a road series against in-conference foe Franklin Pierce on Nov. 10 and 11.
"I'm feeling pretty good, I'm really excited because our team has a lot of potential and we're excited for the rest of the season."
The Trust Project
