Sunday, Nov. 29, 2015, 11:15 p.m.
Last year, Olivia Villani was mixing it up with the boys on the ice as a member of the Fox Chapel hockey team. This year, the 2015 FC grad is playing for the East Coast Wizards in the New England Women’s Junior Hockey League.
Despite being one of the youngest members of the team, she is doing well for herself. She is a captain of the team and was named the league’s October Star of the Month after scoring five points in the Wizard’s first seven games and helping the team put together a five-game winning streak. Villani, who plays defense, has helped the Wizards become one of the best defensive teams in the league and has also been a key contributor on the power play.
She credits a lot of her success to playing on the Fox Chapel boys team.
“I think the experience playing on the boys team helped make me faster, smarter and tougher,” she said. “The physical play in boys hockey also helped me. There’s not as much physicality at the women’s level, and you don’t have to worry about being checked or pushed from behind. There’s still physical play involved and a lot of pushing around, just not as much.”
She is now living in Boston and enjoying it.
“The New England area is a hockey hotbed, and I’m really enjoying it,” Villani said. “Aside from some homesickness, I enjoy being away and playing the sport I love. It’s been great in Boston.”