One Pell of a Hockey Player

Somebody forgot to tell Mina Pell that there are only 24 hours in a day. Or maybe she hasn’t noticed yet.

As a member of both the varsity field hockey and ice hockey teams, Pell seems anything but phased by the commitments. Instead, she anticipates competing in not one but two NCAA tournaments this year.

Although the Crimson forward hopes to end her field hockey career with a trip to the NCAA tournament, there will be no off-season. In about a month, Pell will take to the ice, playing as a wing for the women’s ice hockey team, hungry for a return to the National Championship game.

Her fellow skaters eagerly await the senior forward and her strong presence on the ice.

“People are going to be looking up to [Pell] even though she’s one of the shortest ones on the team,” says co-captain Angela Ruggiero.

Four Sports Are Better Than One

An athlete from the start, Pell took to the ice when she was only three-years old. Though she began and progressed for 10 years as both a hockey player and a figure skater, she ultimately traded in salchows and axels for forechecks and slapshots. The career decision came at the advice of her brother, Haven.

“He said that I would have to quit every sport to be good at figure skating, but if I stopped skating, then I could be really good at four,” Pell says.

Pell took the advice and excelled at tennis, field hockey, lacrosse and ice hockey while growing up in Washington, D.C. Her mother, Simmy, coached her in tennis, and Pell, with some additional outside instruction, played enough summer tournaments to earn a Mid-Atlantic ranking.

Pell refers to this accomplishment as “a side dish,” a phrase that bears witness to her well-roundedness.

While attending the National Cathedral School, Pell developed a love for both field hockey and lacrosse. She was a four-year varsity athlete on both teams, and she was elected captain to both in her senior year.

“I can honestly say that Mina was one of the most complete athletes we have ever coached,” says National Cathedral lacrosse coach Susan Merrit.

“Ever since [elementary school], she was an intense athlete that…played games with passion, but always in the proper perspective,” Merrit says.

“The things that set her apart are her positive attitude and the example she set for everyone on the team,” says National Cathedral JV field hockey coach Jane Degrenier. “She would be among the best from any era.”

Pell amassed numerous successes on the field as an forward. She was selected as All-American and All-League on attack in lacrosse, as well as All-League and All-Met in field hockey.

But such accolades did not satisfy Pell’s appetite for competition.

She played ice hockey competitively for a D.C.-based travel team dubbed the “Little Capitals” for the city’s NHL squad. But when National Cathedral created a club ice hockey team, Pell immediately joined.

“Sometimes I’d have to miss [Cathedral’s practices] because I’d be traveling with the Little Caps,” Pell says, but she remained one of the top players on her high school team.

Four sports might seem sufficient when added to National Cathedral’s demanding academic workload, but not for Pell. During her senior year, she served as the Vice-President of Student Council and, as part of the job, served on the school’s Honor Board.

Dual-Sport

Pell has managed to narrow her focus down to just two sports at Harvard. In the fall, she devotes her time to field hockey. Nestled at 11-4, the Crimson has only one Ivy loss thus far, and Pell is quite enthusiastic about the team’s success.

“Playing in the NCAAs, you play against the best,” she says. “We had some very disappointing losses, but [they were] by far the most memorable experiences.”

This statement is not solely applicable to Pell’s field hockey career at Harvard. Last year, the team made it all the way to the championship game, ultimately losing in double overtime to Minnesota-Duluth.

Competing at such a high level in more than one area requires a great amount of sacrifice, as Pell readily admits.

“Generally, playing multiple sports give you good game sense, and in that way [field hockey and ice hockey] complement each other,” Pell says. “But, I would say that overall it doesn’t make me better, because I miss part of each season. It’s a sacrifice that I guess I have to make.”

The ice hockey season and its practices officially commenced on October 15. Depending on the success of the field hockey team in the NCAA tournament, that season might not end until mid-November, and Pell would miss the first month of ice hockey.

Still, Pell remains confident that it is the best situation for her.

When asked if she could choose between the two sports, she immediately replies, “I couldn’t pick, and I guess that’s why I didn’t. If I could, I probably would have, but I really like both of them, and I like the teams so much.”

Pells Will Ring

“[Pell is] just a phenomenal athlete,” says ice hockey co-captain Lauren McAuliffe. “She has a great work ethic. She’s just an awesome attribute to our team.”

“[Pell] has a lot of speed, so I could play her on any wing,” ice hockey coach Katey Stone says. “Defensively, she’s smart. She keeps it real simple…she understands her role, she understands what she’s good at and she knows what her limitations are. So, she does exactly what you ask her to do. She plays a sort of dot-to-dot hockey, and that’s what we do.”

Pell brings more to the team than her direct style.

“She brings an intensity to the game, locker room and practice that everyone around her feeds off of,” junior teammate Kat Sweet says.

Sweet adds that Pell’s level of commitment is tremendous, as she chooses not to take the time off between seasons that is offered to dual-sport athletes.

“That’s just a testament to her dedication,” Sweet says.

“I think it’s hard for a player to play a fall sport and miss the better part of the conditioning that we focus on in the fall, but she’s done it all four years,” Ruggiero says. “She is an athlete. If you give her the ball, she’s going to take it. If you put her out on the ice, she’s going to do everything she can.”

As her field hockey career draws to a close and the women’s hockey season nears, Pell is excited about the possibility of playing in two NCAA tournaments to end the final chapter in her Harvard athletic career.

“The NCAAs are always interesting,” she says.