Liberty’s first ACHA Hall of Fame inductee Jickling to join Club Sports HOF
3/30/2023 5:04:00 PM | Women's D1 Hockey, Varsity Club
After becoming the first Liberty University hockey player, men's or women's, to be inducted into the ACHA Hall of Fame in 2021, Carrie Jickling ('16, '18) will be the fifth women's hockey player added to the Club Sports Hall of Fame when its ninth class is enshrined April 14 at The Virginian in Downtown Lynchburg.
Jickling, a three-year head captain on Liberty's ACHA Division I women's hockey team who guided the Lady Flames to their first national championship in 2015 and three ACHA DI national finals in five seasons, graduated as the ACHA's all-time leading scorer with 137 goals and 104 assists (241 points) over 157 games.
She follows goalie Patti Smith ('10), the program's first recruit who was inducted in 2016, Kristin Frescura ('11), the Lady Flames' second-leading scorer who was inducted in 2017, Stacey McCombe ('13), inducted in 2018, and Sarah Stevenson ('15), who was honored posthumously in 2019.
"I've pretty much loved hockey since as far back as I can remember," Jickling said. "My dad put me in skates when I was pretty young and I am still playing at least weekly even now. I love the competitiveness and the speed of the sport, and the community built around it."
Jickling was selected to the ACHA All-American First Team in both the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 seasons and was also named the ACHA Off-Ice MVP for 2014-2015. She was honored as the Club Sports Women's Athlete of the Year as a graduate student in 2017, when Liberty lost to Miami (Ohio) in the final, 4-1, as she was coming back from a spleen injury. But Jickling will cherish the 2015 championship season, capped with a 4-1 triumph over the RedHawks, more than any personal accolades.
"That was definitely the No. 1 highlight of my career," she said.
Jickling said the team's first championship final appearance in 2013, when the Lady Flames lost to a Minnesota team that they had dominated in pool play, gave her and her teammates all the more determination to take home the crown two years later.
"That freshman year, when we had lost in the final game, was an eye-opening experience for everyone, and that caused us to take a step back," she said. "It was probably for the better in the long run, to know what kind of preparation we needed to get ourselves back there and win it eventually. Then, (winning in 2015) really set the tone, especially for recruiting going forward."
Jickling, who said her strengths as a player were her shooting, speed, and overall vision on the ice, credited her teammates and coaches Paul Bloomfield — who will be her presenter at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony — and Justin Forth for the success she experienced on the ice.
"We were definitely surrounded by a good group throughout the years of highly skilled players, which helped with the growth of the program and ultimately led to us winning that first national championship," she said. "I definitely think Liberty had a lot of positive influence on myself and everyone on the team. It was another place where we could play the sport we love, be a part of a community, and grow as a team and continue that hard work ethic that could help carry on throughout my professional career as well."
Jickling graduated from Liberty with a B.S. in Business Administration — Human Resource Management and a Master of Business Administration and has spent the past five years working as an operations auditor for an IT consulting company in Denver.
"That is right up my alley and I love it," said Jickling, who has enjoyed living out west after growing up in the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada, which is still at least a 15-hour drive away. "You get the best of both worlds, with hockey around and quite a few rinks in the Denver metro area and so much to see and do outdoors. It is just a fun place to be, no matter what season it is."
She has remained active in the sport of hockey, playing at least weekly on an adult men's recreational team.
"I played boys hockey from the start until I was Pee Wee age," Jickling said. "I played in the Alberta Junior A women's hockey league my senior year of high school before I came to Liberty. I still have friendships being built through the sport all of the time."
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer