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Health & Fitness

Sugar & Spice and Everything Ice

Darby Kern and Julianna Dachille leave big skates to fill, and a legacy.

Anything a guy can do, a girl can do with heels on, right?

Well, in this case—skates. Julianna Dachille and Darby Kern play ice hockey for the team. Dachille is currently on the JV team and Kern is on varsity—and yes, they play with the boys.

Both girls started playing hockey at a young age; Kern was nine and Dachille only six.

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“I love hockey because of the excitement of the game, and overall, just having a blast while I am on the ice,” said Dachille.              

Kern and Dachille play not only for the high school teams, but also for a girls travel team—Pittsburgh Penguins Elite.

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“Placing first in the Mid-American District for girls and then placing second in the nation in 2009 were some of the best accomplishments I have ever had as a team,” said Dachille.

After they placed in their district, the team went on to nationals. Not only did they make it to nationals in 2009, they made it in 2008 and 2010 as well.

Kern also has a list of accomplishments. For example, she was selected to go to the USA National Camp for girls U-16 in 2010 and she has set high goals for herself.

“For girls, my goal is to be one of the top point scorers on my team and get better. For boys, I want to learn more and become a better player,” said Kern.

In the fall, Kern will head to Penn State on a scholarship to play Division I Women’s Ice Hockey for head coach Josh Brandwene. This is especially significant due to the fact that next year will be the first year Penn State endorses a  D-1 women’s ice hockey team. In previous years, there was only a women’s club team.

Dachille strives to contribute as much as she can to both teams and have fun while doing so. She would like to continue playing at this competitive level and eventually earn a spot on a Division I college team as well.

“My main goal is to play Division I in college and earn a scholarship to get there,” said Dachille.

Being the only two girls on the hockey team is quite remarkable. Neither of the girls are treated differently by the boys on their team or any opposing teams, they said.

“It is hard to play with the boys because they are very talented and more physical than girls, but it is also not hard because they are all nice kids,” said Kern.

“They take no mercy on us on the ice and that’s how it should be,” said Dachille.

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