Mel Dodd-Moher isn’t having an average first year at Queen’s. The starting goalie for the second-place women’s hockey team, Dodd-Moher is second in the OUA for goals against average with 1.88, has a save percentage of .941 and has recorded two shutouts in 17 games.
The Stittsville, Ont. native said her dad got her into hockey about 10 years ago.
“I tried [playing goalie] one day for practice because when you’re kids everyone wants to be goalie, and I stuck with it. I loved it.”
Dodd-Moher said she didn’t expect to be starting during her first year in the Tricolour.
“I came in with the attitude of work hard and see where it gets me and fortunately I’ve had the opportunity to start as many games as I can and contribute to the team,” she said. “I’ve been lucky.”
Despite her stellar season, which has seen her face an average of 30 shots per game, Dodd-Moher remains modest about her achievements.
“It’s not about statistics,” she said. “It’s more about how the team’s doing and I try to help out the team however I can.”
A biology student, Dodd-Moher said she’s beginning to adjust to balancing varsity athletics with demanding academics.
“It’s been pretty difficult,” she said. “First term was hard, having hockey every day there’s not much time to do work. But I’m getting used to having specific times for doing certain things. At the end of the day hockey’s a really good stress reliever.”
The demands of academics become harder with an away game, said Dodd-Moher, but she said time management is an important skill to remain level-headed.
“Road trips are difficult,” she said. “They’re a lot of fun obviously, but mostly I try to do my work before the road trip because I might get some work done on the bus but I try to get it over with before the weekend so I can concentrate on hockey and not have to worry about homework.”
With her parents just down the road in Stittsville, a suburb of Ottawa, Dodd-Moher said their has been formidable.
“They come to a few games and they follow the team on the website,” she said. “Whenever I have a good game they call me up and say, ‘Congratulations’, they’ve been great.”
While the Athletics and Recreation Centre has been touted as a draw for student-athletes and the Memorial Centre has been lambasted as a deterrent for new hockey players, Dodd-Moher said she picked Queen’s based on the academics and the team, not the facilities.
“I wouldn’t say the Memorial Centre [or the new Athletics and Recreation Centre] had any contribution,” she said. “Queen’s has a really good reputation academically and I thought the team had really good potential. It was good not to come into a team that’s top of the league because you have nothing to shoot at. It’s good to come into a team where you have something to work towards.”
1) Childhood dream job?
I don’t know if I have one like fireman or whatever…hockey player I guess.
2) Favourite hang out spot on campus?
The library! Just kidding—on campus, I suppose the rink.
3) Ideal vacation spot?
I would love to go to Kenya and climb Mount Kilimanjaro and go on a safari. That would be awesome.
4) What do you love most about Queen’s?
The people. The whole environment. I love the spirit of it.
5) What do you dislike most about Queen’s?
The wind.
6) If sports isn’t your future, what is your ideal career?
I would love to do something hands-on in biology, obviously. Maybe something involving animals. I’d just love to be outside.
7) Favourite season?
I’d have to say winter.
8) Favourite hockey team
The Sens.
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