Twins skate their way into Ivy League
By Daniel Wolowicz camarillo@theacorn.com

DOUBLE TEAM-Megan and Jennifer Niesluchowski give each other a hug after winning the 2005 U16 girl's hockey national championship in Colorado. The Camarillo twins have begun their freshman year at Cornell University, where they were recruited to play for the women's hockey team.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Megan and Jennifer Niesluchowski look exactly alike. The blond, blue-eyed 18-year-old twins from Camarillo may be identical, but they are a unique pair in a number of extraordinary ways.

Last week, the two began their freshman year at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. The accomplishment not only makes them the only students from Rio Mesa High School to attend an Ivy League college this year, but they are two of just five freshman women from the western United States who will play in the highly competitive ECAC Hockey League, which includes 12 Division I colleges from Canada and the U.S.

When it comes to hockey, most people think of Canada's major cities, New England, the Midwest, even Alaska, as the sport's epicenters. Very few consider California, especially Southern California, a hockey hotspot. Thanks in large part to a growing number of girls' hockey clubs- there are four between Ventura and San Diego counties-the Southland is producing top-notch players like the Niesluchowski sisters.

Their club team, Cal Select, won the U12 national championship in 2001 and won the U16 national championship in 2005.

According to USA Hockey, the Huntington Beach-based hockey club was the underdog going into the national tournament played in Centennial, Colo. With the help of the Niesluchowski sisters, though, the Cal Selects beat Team Illinois 2-1 for the U16 national title.

Megan, who plays forward, scored the game-winning goal late in the third period, while Jennifer, the team's goalkeeper, blocked 33 of 34 shots in the championship game, which included making 21-for-21 stops in the last two periods.

What makes Jennifer's performance in front of the net even more impressive is that she played the final game with a badly sprained knee. When she returned home and went to the doctor, she learned the full extent of her injury.

Those championship performances-including a U16 firstplace finish in the highly acclaimed Connecticut Polar Bears Tournament in 2003-helped the sisters garner the attention of a number of East Coast colleges known for their top-rated women's hockey teams.

Talented as the Niesluchowski twins are, their journey from street-hockey games with their brothers and the other boys in their neighborhood to playing for a Division I Ivy League school took an enormous amount of commitment and many, many hours on the road.

"Growing up, we were the only girls on the team and typically the only girls in the league," Jennifer said.

The pair soon traded in their tennis shoes for in-line skates and a chance to play in the local hockey leagues. Although they may have been the only girls in the league, it didn't stop either Jennifer or Megan from excelling in the sport.

During one of their first seasons, Megan earned the top scorer award and Jennifer was named top goaltender. Those would be the first in an eventual laundry list of awards.

The two eventually made the jump to ice hockey, realizing that if they planned to continue playing hockey competitively, they'd have to take their game to the next level. For that to happen, the two would need to join ice hockey teams.

Jennifer said their move to the ice came with a small hitch-they had to learn to ice skate.

The twins took to the ice quickly, and in no time, they were playing competitive club hockey with Team L.A. in Sylmar. It wasn't long, however, before they set their sites on joining Cal Select, one of the best club programs in the nation.

To play for Cal Select, the sisters attended practice twice a week in Huntington Beach. And with games on the weekends, that meant the twins' mom, Bonnie, spent a lot of hours behind the wheel of a car in the bumper-to-bumper traffic along the 101 and 405 freeways.

"It was a lot of miles on the car-and a lot of cars," said Bonnie Niesluchowski.

Attending hockey practice meant leaving their home in Camarillo at 5 p.m. on a weekday and not returning home until midnight.

"My mom was awesome, she'd always drive us," Megan said. "No matter how late or how early."

Because the twins continuously outgrew their hockey equipment, Niesluchowski said the family spent "thousands and thousands" of dollars each year to make sure the girls could continue to play.

But it wasn't the pads or new skates that made the sport pricey. The real costs came with the plane tickets and hotel rooms needed for the club team's out-of-state tournaments. With much of the competitive girls' hockey tournaments played in New England, cross-country trips were unavoidable.

"The team traveled usually five times a year," Niesluchowski said. "And traveling either was back East, or sometimes there were tournaments up in Alaska and Canada."

Regardless of the enormous time and financial commitment that the sport demanded, Niesluchowski said she and her husband, Vito, always recognized the girls' love of hockey and their dedication to the game.

"They were very dedicated all those years," she said. "They loved the sport and they excelled at it. It was their burning desire to keep playing."

Their dedication helped earn them a spot on Cornell women's hockey team. But because Ivy League schools do not offer athletic scholarships, Bonnie and Vito will definitely have a few extra expenses with two out-of-state tuitions to pay.

Again, she said, the sacrifices are worth it.

"We knew that Cornell didn't offer scholarships, but we were so pleased because it was going to be a wonderful educational opportunity," Niesluchowski said.

Jennifer and Megan also recognize that playing hockey for Cornell means they too will have to make sacrifices in order to compete athletically and academically at such a high level.

"We knew it would really require lots of effort on both of our parts, but if it was possible, we knew that it was what we wanted," Jennifer said.

Megan and Jennifer said they love the sport for its intensity and speed. They liked growing up in Southern California and playing a sport like ice hockey that's unusual on the West Coast.

"Everyone I knew growing up played soccer and other sports, but I loved the fact that not many people played ice hockey," Jennifer said.

Even though it's unlikely they'll be seeing a lot of playing time this year, Megan and Jennifer are looking forward to the upcoming school year and beginning their collegiate careers on the ice this October.

They'll be playing under Doug Derraugh, who will start as head coach this season.

Derraugh, who went 9-18-1 last year as the interim coach, has quite a bit of work ahead of him if Cornell hopes to win its first Ivy League championship in more than 10 years.