Senior Audrey Jackson of Shoreview Minnesota began skating at the age of six with her brother and dad when she found a passion for hockey. Jackson attended the Gentry Academy, progressing her hockey career as well as playing for the Minnesota Junior Whitecaps and Tradition Black in the Minnesota High School Elite League.
When it came to playing at the collegiate level Jackson mentioned “that was always the big goal.” Reflecting on Jackson’s time at Saint Anselm has been admirable and commendable as a strong scorer and shooter for the Hawks. She ended her freshman season with five goals and one assist, ranking second amongst the freshman in goals, 82 shots ranking fourth on the team and a minus-10 on-ice rating. Jackson’s next season as a second year would bring in twelve goals and twenty assists as well as a feature on SportsCenter Top 10 Plays from ESPN falling in the sixth spot. Her junior year, Jackson had a total of twenty five points, twelve goals and thirteen assists and a career high of 151 shot attempts. Jackson was also a NEWHA All-Conference Second Team recipient. This season thus far Jackson has accumulated twelve goals and five assists.
On January 11, the Hawks went up against Sacred Heart University ending with a tie 2-2. The Hawks were able to claim the game winning in the shootout 2-1. Jackson scored one of the two goals in the game as well as a goal in the shootout.
Senior night took place on January 25 when the Hawks defeated Franklin Pierce 6-4. “It was a clean win which we needed and it was awesome to see the team come together and all the seniors played awesome,” Jackson said. “We made it a game like that to get the back half of our season going.”
With it being Jackson’s last season as a Hawk she has “been able to contribute a lot in the locker room,” as well as “being able to lead by example on the ice.” With a coaching change this season the Hawks have had to adapt to the new culture and change. Jackson hopes that she as well as the other seniors will be able to “deal with the underclassmen who are really worried about the coaching change and help guide them to a better future,” said Jackson.
Jackson mentioned, “Our new coach is such a light in this program. I hope that if this team can understand what he’s trying to do they are going to have a lot of success in the future”
For the rest of the season Jackson’s support for her and her teammates is strong and they are willing to do whatever it takes to be the best version of themselves. “We need to keep pushing forward and make a playoff run as best as we can, we obviously aren’t sitting at the top of the league right now so it’s crucial we win these next few games and go as far as we can,” Jackson said.
The Hawks are ranked 35 in the NCAA Division I rankings and 4 in the NEWHA rankings.
Jackson currently has no plans after she graduates. She does remain hopeful for the program in the future. Jackson said, “I wanna leave behind a positive environment that can come to be their own. With the coaching change it’s also a culture change as well and I think that things are only looking up for this program. I hope that I and the rest of the seniors can leave a positive legacy and something that when these freshmen are seniors they can look back and think when we were freshmen we had awesome seniors that led us to all this.”