Billerica’s Clare Conway finds a new hockey home at WSU – Lowell Sun.

It didn’t take long for Clare Conway to warm up to his new hockey home.

Billerica-based and former Becker College sniper now lights a lamp at the opening of the Worcester State University women’s hockey team.

Lancer’s senior captain made the program’s first natural hat trick on home ice when he won 3-2 back in Western New England on Nov. 11 at Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center. He continued with a hot hand two nights later against the WNE and collected a pair of passes in a 4-4 draw on November 13th. This time, the 5-foot striker helped his teammate Katie Puumala do a hat trick.

As a result, the East Collegiate Hockey Alliance selected Conway as Player of the Week.

“It feels pretty good,” Conway said, noting that teammate Cassidhe Wozniak deserved the honor two weeks earlier. “It’s nice to have another one on the team. It also increases my self-confidence, so it’s always good.

Conway quickly corrected a previous typo in a recent WSU press release. She wasn’t the first WSU women’s hockey player to do a hat trick. This honor went to Wozniak, who made it to the program in the first official game, winning 5-0 at Arcadia on October 30th.

“I got my first home,” Conway explained. “Which was still pretty cool, but Cassidhe got the first ever, in our first game ever. It was still cool to have the first collegiate hat trick. It was great to have it at home in front of my friends, family and fans, but it doesn’t happen without my teammates around me. I appreciate that too.”

With a major in business, Conway is currently leading his team in scoring with 9 points.

Born in Lowell and raised in Billerica, Conway first took the hockey stick at the age of 3, following in his brother’s footsteps.

He quickly developed his presence on the ice and broke university grades as a seventh grader at Billerica Memorial High School. Conway played college hockey for six years in the Indians and graduated in 2018. He continued to warm up at Becker College for the next three seasons, becoming the program’s all-time top scorer with 25 goals, 32 assists and 57 points at 63. games for the Hawks.

But when a small art college decided to close its doors during a pandemic, the future of his hockey was suddenly in the dark.

“When we learned of Becker’s closure, there was a lot of attention to that,” Conway said. “Everything was uncertain. Our biggest concern was if we were going to divorce and never play with each other. It was something we all struggled with.”

Eliza Kelley, who has been coaching Becker’s women’s hockey team since its inception in 2014, was quickly named Worcester State’s first coach. The pay seemed to open up a new opportunity for the upcoming Hawks. Conway was one of 13 Becker players who moved to WSU during the break, giving the opening team some veteran experience.

“Adjusting was hard because we knew it was the last time we played with Becker,” Conway said. “But the mere knowledge that we would have a place to fall was really nice to us. After all, we just wanted to keep playing together and coach Kelly playing, because he’s honestly the best. Without him, none of us would play here.

According to Conway, Worcester State University sports director Michael Mudd’s love of sports, combined with his interest in expanding the school’s sports palette, was key to all of this happening.

“They wanted to get the women’s hockey team here for years, but compared to the budget, it didn’t materialize,” Conway said. “When Becker closed down, they took the opportunity (to recruit us) instead of starting from scratch. They took what we had and basically copied and pasted it here. It worked well.”

“They welcomed us here with open arms,” he added. “The whole athletic administration, especially the men’s hockey team, has been really good for us and has defended us as well. This is also my last season, so I just want to bring in as much as I can.

Currently, a record 3-2-1 Lancers will return to the ice on Saturday, Nov. 20 to host Salve Regina. The faceoff is scheduled for 6:10 p.m.

“We started strongly and have shown what we can do,” Conway said. – Of course, we are not happy with where we are, but the season is long. At the moment, we are happy with the direction we are going. We focus there, playing hard in every game and having fun. But in the end, we just want to win. ”

And whenever Clare Conway is on the ice, the wins are just a shot away.