The Stentor

In a community as small as Lake Forest College, it is shocking that the success of the Women's Hockey team has gone virtually unnoticed.

The Foresters have yet to lose a game this season, but even that isn't enough to draw a wide range of fan support. Just one home game this season drew a crowd of over 200.

We too, at the Stentor have been guilty of not recognizing the efforts of the Women's Hockey team, so here is the beginning of what will hopefully turn into a school-wide interest.

The Women's hockey team is currently ranked 10th in the nation, a mark of achievement they haven't experienced since the '06/'07 season. Led by head coach Carisa Zaban, in her fifth year at the helm, the Foresters are showing no signs of letting up any time soon.

Coach Zaban feels confident in this year's team and the potential they have, but emphasized the importance of not getting to far ahead of themselves.

"It's still too early to tell where we could finish this season" she said. "Ideally, I would like to finish in the top four in the league, with a chance to contend for the title. We need to remember to stay focused with any setbacks and/or successes and realize that it's not how you start, but how you finish." With nearly half the season completed, it is difficult to find many flaws in the team's play.

Why is it that one of the best teams on campus is so underappreciated? It can't be the sport of hockey itself, given the fact that the Men's Hockey Team drew a packed house on Opening Night back on Friday November 13. Why is it that the Men's Hockey team, winners of just two games so far receive more attention than the women's team, despite the obvious gap in success the two are having?

Perhaps it is still the unequal balance between men and women's sports. Lake Forest College is hardly the only school in the country to show a greater interest in men's athletics over women's. It isn't an intentional act among the fans. It's not as if we are trying to be deliberately sexist in the teams we choose to support, but the fact is we are.

Women's sports continue to stand in the shadows of men's on both collegiate and professional levels. The creation of Title IX in 1972, helped balance the opportunities for both sexes, but it hasn't changed the overall public interest in women's athletics. With nine home games remaining in the Foresters season, everyone on campus, including the faculty should make it a necessary commitment to come out to at least one game before the season ends. We owe it to the Women's Hockey to show our support in our own community.

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