McKendree University the right fit for Peterson

Last month, McKendree, who is 9-8 this season in Division I of the American Collegiate Hockey Association, put out a press release about the Peterson announcement.

In it, women’s hockey head coach Craig Buntenbach expressed his excitement.

“Dakota is going to bring a dynamic that we are really needing…a power forward with height and the ability to cover a lot of ice with her reach,” Buntenback said in the press release. “I highly anticipate she’ll be one of our best offensive threats.”

Peterson, who has 10 points in 19 games this season for Battlefords, always had the goal of getting a hockey scholarship in the States, but wasn’t quite sure how to get started.

Then a friend told her about Next College Student Athlete, an organization that gets students connected with college coaches all over the United States, and even some in Canada.

They are an NCAA approved recruiting network that has helped over 60,000 student-athletes reach the next level.

“You put up videos and you kind of do a little bit about yourself and coaches are able to view your profile and see if you’re a good match for their program,” Peterson explained. “That’s how McKendree started talking to me.”

The school also saw her play in Portage and eventually decided to offer her a deal.

But they weren’t the only school that did.

King’s College in Pennsylvania also put forth significant interest, even before McKendree did. Peterson said making her decision wasn’t easy.

“After talking to my parents, we were going to decide on [King’s College] in Pennsylvania and then about a week before I was going to start telling people, McKendree started to talk to me,” she said. “I just really liked [McKendree’s] program and what they had to offer me.

“I’ll take my four years for my degree and then I declare pre-vet med. So I’ll be in the health sciences program and working with animals,” she said.

As excited as Peterson is, it’s also a 24-hour drive from home, which Peterson described as “a trek.”

But she talked everything over with her parents and has their full support.

“They’re really important to me. I didn’t want to make this big decision about my life without them,” Peterson said. “I’m a little nervous because it is so far away…but I’m really excited too, just being able to experience something like that. I’m not going to be able to get that while I’m going to school just at the University of Saskatchewan.

“The whole experience itself – being able to go down to the States and just be in a new place like that [is exciting], especially with the young team and the old college. It’s a really pretty campus, too.”

To prepare for the college game, Peterson said her goal is to work on making smart decisions with the puck.

“Just knowing how to make those quick decisions without having to think too much on it [is important],” she said. “And [I need to] be able to move the puck really well and kind of deceive the defenders.”

The AAA Sharks next play on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 1 p.m. in Wilcox against the Notre Dame Hounds. Both the Hounds and Sharks currently have five wins this season.

Nathan Kanter is battlefordsNOW’s sports reporter and voice of the Battlefords North Stars. He can be reached at Nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca or tweet him @NathanKanter11

by Nathan Kanter

McKendree University the right fit for Peterson

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