When she was a youngster growing up in Dedham, Sierra Semmel used to have her birthday parties at University of Maine women’s ice hockey games.
She also had a ton of UMaine T-shirts and hockey cards.
Now she will have her own hockey card as she will play for the Black Bears beginning this fall.
Semmel left Dedham to attend the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Connecticut, for four years and, after graduating from Loomis Chaffee, she played in the Junior Women’s Hockey League for the Washington Pride this past season. She had 13 goals and 13 assists, and the Pride won the JWHL championship.
“I can’t wait to meet the team and get on the ice,” said the 19-year-old Semmel, who was a right winger for the Pride. “They sent me a workout packet, and I’ve been following it religiously since I got back in mid-April. I want to prove to the coaches that I will do whatever I can to get a spot on the ice and help the team.
“It’s going to be awesome to come back and represent my state, my school and my family,” said Semmel. “It’s a dream come true.”
The daughter of Eric and Kathy Semmel said her decisions to attend Loomis Chaffee and then play for the Pride have worked out.
Semmel, who hopes to attend medical school after she graduates from UMaine, said Loomis Chaffee prepared her for the academic rigors of college while also giving her the opportunity to play on competitive girls teams.
And playing for the Pride gave her the chance to focus on just hockey.
“In prep school, you have to play different sports and you are very busy academically, so it’s hard to focus on just one thing,” she said. “With the Pride, it was awesome to be in the gym twice a week doing hockey-specific lifts, having a trainer and practicing every day for seven months.
“It helped me prepare for playing a Division I sport in college,” she added.
UMaine hockey coach Richard Reichenbach said Semmel will have a legitimate chance to crack the top three lines this season.
“She’s physical, she’s strong, and she has good speed,” said Reichenbach. “She’s extremely smart on and off the ice. And since she took an extra year after Loomis Chaffee, she will be a little more mature. She got some extra experience.”
Reichenbach said she has played on some “really good teams” including Loomis Chaffee and the Pride, which is in a league with both U.S. and Canadian teams.
Despite being just 5-foot-3, Semmel enjoys playing an aggressive game, and Reichenbach expects her to make her presence felt in the corners and in front of the net.