Led by the redshirt freshman-senior defensive duo, BC finished the 2018-19 season 26-12-1, losing in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals. This past season, however, was filled with adversity. The Eagles skated to a 17-16-3 record and a loss in the Hockey East tournament quarterfinals, before the rest of hockey was shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Because Barnes — who has 10 goals and 36 assists in 71 games the past two seasons at BC — plays defense, her leadership doesn’t come from being the player to fill up the scoresheet. Instead, she considers herself more of a playmaker and a leader by example. She said she learned quite a bit from her sophomore season and is already working toward making the Eagles a better team. She has already been named an assistant captain for her junior season.
For now, she is living in Boston and staying with a friend whose dad is Barnes’ trainer. Barnes and one of her four older brothers drove 18 hours from Boston to Nashville, Tennessee, to see their parents’ new home. Otherwise, she is painting, rollerblading, riding a stationary bike and other things to stay in shape.
With an eye on 2022, she is also looking to become a bigger contributor to what she hopes is her second Olympic experience, this time in Beijing.
“The one big thing that I’ve been focusing on is my shot,” she said. “Just a quick release, more accuracy. I’ve been shooting a lot of pucks. When I can get with a shooting coach and stuff like that [after the lockdown], I think that’s one area of my game that’s not entirely developed so I’ve been working on that a lot recently.”
Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.
