PD Sports

By Josh Horton

Four years ago when Paige Semenza was entering her sophomore year in high school she left Pittston Area and enrolled in the North American Hockey Academy in Stowe, Vermont. At the time the school’s hockey director Bill Driscoll told her parents, Joann and Phil, they could "pay now, or pay later."

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Right, Piage Semenza. Above, Paige flanked bu her parents Joann and Phil

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Right, Piage Semenza. Above, Paige flanked bu her parents Joann and Phil

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In other words, if they enrolled her in NAHA - an elite hockey academy/high school with an enrollment of only 40 girls from all over North America - and paid tuition, they were all but guaranteed a college scholarship one day. Well, that day is here and it turns out Driscoll was right. Paige, now 18 is a freshman at Ohio State University on an athletic scholarship.

Paige started skating at an open skate at the Ice Box when she was six or seven. Because there were no local girls’ leagues, she played on boys teams all the way up to her freshman year in high school, where she was considered one of the fastest skaters in the Ice Box high school league. Paige also she played on girls travel teams, including Team Florida.

In 2006 Bill Driscoll, the NAHA hockey director saw Paige play with Team Florida and encouraged her to go to NAHA.

In her junior season at NAHA Paige’s team played 86 games had a 70-9-6 record, won six tournaments and a league championship.

These days Paige is enjoying life as a Buckeye, where she is quickly learning the art of time management. “We go away on the weekends and it is really hard to get our work done while were away. But, we are usually back on Sunday mornings and we have enough time to get caught up,” Paige said..

She believes college hockey is completely different than high school. There is much more physical contact at the college level and Semenza doesn’t mind that at all. She also had to adjust to a whole new coaching system.

“The coaching is different, systems are different and there is more to adjust to than I expected. It’s taking time to fully adjust. You really have to earn your spot on the team, nothing is given. Consistant hard work is key.”

It is difficult to Semenza’s parents to see her play, because the games are so far away. For example, Ohio State plays teams such as Minnesota and North Dakota. The closest games are the home games at Ohio State and even that’s an eight- hours drive for her family to visit every couple weeks.

“It is nice when they come out to see me, because except for team meetings, we are pretty much by ourselves on the weekends. So, we are able to spend a lot of time together,” Semenza said.

Semenza is making new friends on and off the ice at OSU. Semenza was supposed to room with a freshman teammate, but there was a problem with the housing arrangements. Therefore, Semenza rooms with a “regular student” at OSU.

“We get along really well. I always try to imagine myself as just a regular student like her, but I don’t think I could do it. I’d go crazy. I would feel like I had so much free time and I wouldn’t know how to spend it,” said Paige who once said that she’s happiest in life when she on the ice.

Semenza has already scored her first goal and is making an impact on the team. The Buckeyes are currently 5-4-3 and are in second place in the WCHA.

“It’s a battle every game. No teams are taken lightly this year, especially us. She’s a forward with the third line. We all have the same goal and that is to win the league championship and then the national championship,” Semenza said.

Paige is living her dream at Ohio State and loves everything about the University.

“Classes and hockey can be stressful at times and I have my ups and downs, just like everyone else. But I am playing the sport I’ve loved playing my whole life. So, it’s all worth it in the end,” Semenza said.