Senior assistant captain Erin O’Neil can often be found between the goalposts in the Walter Brown Arena, but when she is not blocking shots, she can be found in the kitchen.
The Minnetonka, Minnesota native said that she has been interested in cooking her whole life.
“I’ve been in the kitchen since before I could reach the counter,” O’Neill said. “I got this fond memory of my dad and I in the kitchen cooking and I’m up on like a stepstool and helping him cut stuff and I can’t even reach the counter and I’m already helping my dad out in the kitchen.”
O’Neil said her parents, Bob and Lori, are the biggest inspirations for her when it comes to cooking.
“My dad’s side of the family is really into cooking,” O’Neil said. “My mom and my dad both love cooking so we’re a food forward family.”
Her coach, Brian Durocher, said he is excited about his goaltender’s aspirations to be a chef.
“I’m excited that people find things they love,” Durocher said. “You know how many times people go through school and they may have a defined degree in the end but it still may or may not be the thing they want to do. Right now she’s pretty excited, I think she’s found something she’s enjoyed.”
Among the most challenging meals she has ever cooked was a combined birthday present for her parents, O’Neil said.
“I did an eight-course meal at my house which was ridiculous and probably dumb looking back at it,” O’Neil said. “It was so much fun … There was one dessert, and a bunch of random courses. All together that was the toughest thing I’ve ever done cooking wise.”
O’Neil said that even though she has been cooking a lot of Asian food recently, her favorite foods to cook are “down home American” foods such as fried chicken and burgers. In the past, she worked in a kitchen called Travail, a restaurant that prepares a 16-course tasting menu every night.
“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life but I put my nose in there and worked as hard as I could and did everything I could to help … I think it’s the same thing for me in hockey,” O’Neil said. “I’ve made my career of working hard and doing what I can to help the team.”
O’Neil started playing hockey in kindergarten when she played both goalie and out. She said that she made the transition to goalie full time when she was in third grade.
Before she was a member of the Terriers, O’Neil had a successful playing career. She was a member of Team USA that finished second at the IIHF World Women’s U18 Championship and the 2014 recipient of the Let’s Play Hockey Senior Goalie of the Year, which is presented annually to the top Minnesota senior goalie in girls’ high school hockey. She was also named to the USA Today All-America Team in 2014.
Durocher said that O’Neil has characteristics that stand out to him on the ice.
“She’s a well-educated goaltender, she’s had good coaches that taught her well, she talks a lot out there on the ice,” Durocher said. “Her big thing is she sometimes doubts herself a little or doubts what she’s doing just a little and that can’t happen. Late in her sophomore year she had a nice run where she did say ‘you’re not getting one by me’… and that sort of needs to be her mindset all the time.”
During her time as a Terrier, she has also continued to play well. She was twice named a member of the Hockey East All-Academic Team, and twice named the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week and a member of the Hockey East All-Tournament Team in 2016. She was voted by her teammates to serve as an assistant captain for the 2017-18 season.
Durocher said that O’Neill is somebody who stood out as a player in his locker room last season.
“It’s a proud moment when you get named a captain,” he said. “It obviously signals that you’ve got leadership capabilities. Your teammates have respect for you. But at the same time it has responsibilities that aren’t easy … A good captain is somebody who leads by example … Erin stood out.”
O’Neil echoed her coach’s sentiments, remembering how appreciative she was to be named a captain.
“It was a really really big honor for me, a lot of my good friends have been captains,” she said. “We have a wall of captains up by the staircase, so when you walk in past that, it’s been a motivating factor for me. This has been something I’ve wanted since I got here.”
O’Neil will enter her senior season with a 20-11-4 record, including wins over multiple ranked teams. Durocher said she will more than likely be in net for the team’s first game on Saturday.
“I feel that it’s important to give your upperclassmen the first chance, the first opportunity,” Durocher said. “She’s experienced, she’s played enough, she knows her way around … I hope that will be a good shot, a good start and a good run to a very good final season.”
Although O’Neil said she has enjoyed delving into her interests — both food and hockey — she’s still unsure where her love for cooking will take her in life.
“I hope that eventually I can maybe own a restaurant or a catering company,” she said. “I want to try to stay within sports so hopefully I can make it nutritionally-based or something where I can stay along with the sports line but still be working with food, which is really my passion.”
Nicole Havens contributed to the reporting
