By Christopher Tremblay

Jenna Naumann got involved with ice hockey at a young age due to the involvement of her family in the sport. Her father, William Naumann, was the president of the Norwood Youth Hockey program and her older brother and sister both played. 

“Dad was always at the rink and I went to get as much ice time as I could,” Naumann said. “I was four years old when I first started skating and soon after that my father put a stick in my hands.”

Although she can not actually pinpoint the reasoning to why she loves the sport so much, she does know that she enjoys being part of a team and the Norwood hockey community is one that is very close knit.

As an eighth grader, she was called up to the junior varsity team near the end of the season and got a taste of what high school hockey was like. The following year as she entered high school, she was anxious and hoping to make the team.

“My freshman year was the moment I had been waiting for,” Naumann said. “I made the varsity team and got to play with a lot of the girls that I grew up with during youth hockey and the seniors that I had looked up to. At first it was intimidating playing on this level with the girls who had been here much longer.”

Although she was injured for the team’s first game that season, the freshman finally was able to make it onto the ice playing right wing on the second line. 

Growing up and being one of a few girls who knew the game, Naumann found herself as a center, but when playing with the boys team’s she was regulated to right wing.

“Playing with the boys really helped me shape my game to what it is today,” Naumann said. “Speed is much different playing with them, and they pushed me to be the best that I possible could be.”

Being a four-year varsity player for the Mustangs Naumann has seen her role change. Originally, the now senior captain was a playmaker for the squad, but lately she has found her niche to be that of a scorer.  Last year, she posted her best ever season scoring 16 goals while adding 9 assists and Coach Tim Coskren is hoping of more of the same this season. 

“I am looking for her to put up similar numbers to that of last year,” the Norwood Coach said. “She was one of our top scorers last year and plays both ends of the ice; she’s a complete player.”

Last year, the Mustangs opened the season with 12 straight wins, and it looked as  though the team were in prime position, however, the back half of the season was not as solid as the first half. Things seemed to carry over into the Division 2 State Tournament where Norwood was upset in the first round falling to Malden Catholic 2-1 in overtime. 

Naumann is using the first-round exit as motivation for this season. Over the summer she not only played in a summer league to get better, she was also  working on shooting pucks, knowing that she is going to be looked upon to score more this season.

Unfortunately, during the soccer season Naumann sprained her ankle and found herself on the sidelines unable to play right up until the beginning of the hockey season which hindered her performance.

“In terms of endurance, it hurt me not being able to play soccer and when I was finally able to put on my skates it was tough,” Naumann said. “I was doing nothing and then all of a sudden I was skating for 50 minutes a day; that was tough, but a couple of weeks into it I was skating much better, although I am not fully there yet.”

Norwood has opened the season with a tough beginning, but the senior captain is hoping that it helps in the younger girls’ growth.

“As a captain, I want to show the younger girls that they are capable of playing a significant role on the team and make them want to work hard,” Naumann said. “Obviously the older girls know what it feels like to lose in the tournament, and having a rough start to this season should help the younger girls in the long run as they now know what it’s like to lose on this level.”

Despite the slow start, Naumann believes that the team still has the ability o play the game at a top level and qualify for another trip to the State Tournament.

“We are a very young team with a lot of girls who have not played the game on this level,” Naumann said. “They don’t have the confidence, but once they are on the same page with the girls who have been here we’ll be fine.” 

As for herself, the senior winger is looking to play a full game on both sides of the puck while making things happen offensively so that the Mustangs cant make it back to the tournament and avenge their first round loss from a year ago.

“Jenna is a well-rounded individual who is also a member of the National Honor Society, referees ice hockey games, and helps out with the learn to skate program here in Norwood,” Coskren said. “On the ice for us she is an integral part of our game and we will depend on her to do a lot for us.”

Although she still has just about her entire senior hockey season in front of her, Naumann is unsure of hockey beyond high school. As of this writing, she said she could not imagine her life without hockey, but she hasn’t really thought about playing on the collegiate level. Things will all depend on where she decides to attend college. For now, she is just focusing on putting up the offensive numbers for Norwood so that the squad puts together a solid season where they can extend their playing into the post-season.