Hailing from Edina, Minnesota, a hotbed of hockey talent, junior goalkeeper Calli Glass has been ice skating for as long as she can remember. Today, she is a goalkeeper for the men’s club ice hockey team and the only female Revolutionary on the ice alongside the squad of men.
Glass began her hockey journey when she was about five or six years old, learning the ins and outs of the ice with her older brother. She said she started playing goalie in the fourth grade and played with women through the rest of high school.
Glass joined the men’s club ice hockey team her freshman year after attending a Capitals game, only to realize that GW and Georgetown would be playing their annual game at Capital One Arena afterward. After staying to watch the game, she exchanged several emails with the captain of the men’s team prior to trying out and being called up as a goalkeeper.
“I got here as a freshman and I was missing home,” Glass said. “I wanted a piece of home with me.”
Most recently, Glass earned game MVP against Navy on Oct. 22, where the Revs won 6-2. She allowed two of the 22 shots taken against her through, all of which occurred during power play opportunities for the Midshipmen. Throughout her current season, Glass played 333 minutes and boasts an 89 percent save percentage.
“I think that game we did a really good job of not getting frustrated,” Glass said. “That’s actually one other difference I will say is there’s a lot more penalties than women’s hockey. There’s more emotion on the ice for sure, which is good. I can feel the passion from the players.”
Glass also serves as an emergency netminder for the women’s club ice hockey team when they are in need of a goalkeeper.
Junior defensemen and captain Cade Llewellyn said Glass’ presence on the team has propelled them to victories and changed their team environment for the better.
“Calli is great, since our freshman year she’s developed not only as a player but more importantly as a person, and that’s something our program is very proud of,” Llewellyn said in an email. “She’s tremendous to play with and always has a positive attitude.”
Glass said playing with men, despite being exhilarating, comes with its own set of challenges. She said she has been forced to get ready for games in storage closets or use a folding chair to store her equipment due to the lack of women’s locker rooms in certain arenas.
“I can’t let this minor inconvenience deter me from playing a game,” Glass said. “I’m here, we drove all this way up here. There’s nothing I can do about it now. I might as well just go and play the best game that I can. So if anything, I definitely use it as fuel rather than something to make me more upset.”
The team practices once a week on Wednesday from 10:30 p.m. to midnight at the St. James Performance Club located in Springfield, Va. At the facility, Glass enjoys her own locker room where she sets up her gear prior to getting on the ice with everyone.
“I can’t say enough good things about the guys and the team,” Glass said. “From day one, they’ve all been super kind to me and super nice. It was very intimidating joining this. I’d never played with guys, so it was something I was super unfamiliar with. But from day one, every single guy was super nice.”
Glass and the Revs will take on Richmond on Nov. 3 at 9:30 a.m. at The St. James.
