Vanessa Sampl '24 Recruiting Profile

For as long as I remember, hockey has been a big part of my life. Having 2 older brothers that were playing the sports certainly influenced and motivated me in getting on the ice at a very young age. I loved getting on the ice with them and my best memory of it was when I got to be a <call up> on their team; what a great feeling to be playing on the same team as them.  I have always been a hard worker and, since I was eager to learn and raise the bar for myself, I add many opportunities to play at a competitive level and be quite successful at it.

Hockey has taught me a lot.  Not only did it teach me discipline, the value of working with others, but above all it did show me that <hard work pays off>; you get what you put into it.  I take every opportunity I can to be on the ice and working on my "game"; over the last few years I have been on the ice an average of 5 days a week which helped me greatly at mastering many skills that are supporting my success as  a hockey player. I also know the importance of giving your best effort and never giving up... and making sure your team mates are doing the same thing;  Hockey is a team sport and we win and lose as a team.  Every game I make sure I am ready, by having a good night sleep, eating the right food and having the right mindset.  I always been a committed player and enjoy being on a team where the level of commitment is as strong as mine, hence why I enjoy playing at the highest level possible.

I have played for a few years as a defense, but I feel that I can best serve my team as a <winger>.  Thanks to my great speed, my signature move is to outskate defensive players and get to the net.  As a trusted and hard working player I am usually on the first or second power play. I am also a great asset when it comes to <killing a penalty>, with a  ratio of over 90% of penalties successfully killed when I am on the ice. I usually have the lowest <goal against on ice> on  the team I am playing on; somehow I really don't like having a goal scored against my team when on the ice. lol  I am usually one of the top pointers on a team but I am also  proud to say that I am a great contributor on defensive plays.  I am said to be a great defensive forward as I am an excellent two-way player, capable of shutting down the opponent's best scorers while also generating offense. I log big minutes with great efficiency at even strength, on the power play and the penalty kill, as well as late in a game when my team is trying to protect a lead.

In short, I truly love playing hockey and I love the competitive side of it.  Every game is a new chance for me to surpass myself and put into practices the lessons learned from the previous games.  My goal is to keep on playing at the highest level possible and hopefully getting the opportunity in the future to pursue my passion at the college and/or university level, here in North America or in Europe, as I also have a Slovenian Citizenship.

NCAA ID# 2211725262