When Jessica Christofferson was a Bemidji High School senior, she led the Jacks to an 18-win season and scored 17 goals in a 52-point season.
Today the 2008 BHS graduate is a sophomore at Mercyhurst College and she is playing on the current No. 1 ranked Division I women's hockey team in the country.
She is looking forward to the experience of playing in the first official game at the BREC when the Lakers play Bemidji State at 2:07 p.m. Friday.
"It's going to be great to play in front of my family and I still know some of the Bemidji State players," Christofferson said. "I think it's going to be quite the experience with all the people I know in the stands and playing against some of the people I know."
Christofferson, who is majoring in sports medicine and health fitness promotion, has rotated between the third and fourth lines in her first two seasons with the Lakers. She appeared in 33 games last season for the Lakers and finished the year with one goal and three assists.
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She started this season strong earlier this month when she scored her first goal of the season on her first shift of the season in a 9-1 victory over St. Cloud State.
Christofferson said she had the opportunity to go to different schools where she could play on a first or second line right away as a freshman, but she does not regret her decision to attend and play at Mercyhurst.
The talented Lakers team is led by senior Meghan Agosta, who was the named the Most Valuable Player of the Vancouver Olympics after leading Canada to the gold medal.
By playing around that kind of experience, Christofferson has turned into a student of the game.
"It was probably the best thing for me to come here," Christofferson said. "One of the things I've really embraced here at Mercyhurst is that we have such a veteran group of players, gold medals and players who have experience in foreign countries - you can learn a lot about the game and where it can take you. It's great that a person like me from a small town can have the chance to play along side a gold-medal winner."
When the Mercyhurst bus rolled into town Thursday night after a plane trip from Cleveland and a bus trip from Minneapolis, Christofferson was the one answering questions from her teammates.
"That was pretty cool coming into town," Christofferson said. "I was showing everyone some things around town and pointed out where I used to go to high school. Most of the things around here have stayed the same, but this is going to be a new experience."
