A wise man once said that statistics do not always tell the full story. More often than not, that person is wrong. So far however, the 2010-2011 Lady Beacon’s hockey season does not agree with the stat book. First thing that is noticeable is the 2-4 record. Second is the fact that in three of their four losses, the team has scored one goal. A person who only looks at the stat book could see this as glaring problems and an extremely disappoint start. The players, and most importantly, rookie head coach Colleen Harris see things differently. All of the Lady Beacons first six games have been against conference opponents. Three of the four losses came against the pre-season ECAC East’s top three teams. All six of the Lady Beacons games have been involved in back to backs, something that is not easy for anyone, especially a team that has only 14 skaters. Yes, that is correct. The team only has three lines of forwards and two lines of defense. The other two players are the goalies. Even though the stats say otherwise, Coach Harris is not really worried about the lack of scoring thus far.   “I am a little bit”, stated Harris. ” We have dealt with adversity by not having a lot of skaters, but we do not want to make excuses. Hopefully we will break out of it soon. It is something we are really pressing in practice.”   What about the slow start? Being 2-4 to start is nowhere near panic, but when all the games have been in conference, that can be tough to make up when February and March roll around. Again though, Harris has utter confidence in her team and just sees this as a mini slump.   “We have played good games for two and a half periods. We wind up taking five minutes off and that is when we lose it”, quoted Harris. I like that we are playing at a high level of competition. We take positive stuff away from each game. We need to finish this semester strong, practice hard over break, and take care of business in the spring semester”.   The slow start might also come from the girls themselves. Being shorthanded can make each of them more accountable and try to do more, Remember, Maria Nasta is not walking through that door and onto the ice. Neither is bruiser Amanda Cianciulli. That is a lot of offense and a lot of toughness that is missing but not irreplaceable. After being picked to finish 4th in the pre-season ECAC East’s poll, the girls may be pressing. Harris agrees.   “I think so. This is a little bit of a building year based on numbers. We lost a good class last year and need to work with what we have. By working our butts off and wanting to get better, we will be fine in the end”.   As difficult as the beginning of this year may have been on the outside, Harris is really pleased with the girls as a whole. The girls are a very tight group and are willing to take any challenge that is thrown their way. It has been the outstanding work ethic and refusal to quick that has been the most impressive thing thus far.   “They are the best conditioned team, I’m willing to bet that”, joked Harris. “Playing with three lines and at times two lines is tough. They play until the end of the game, always playing hard. It speaks volumes as a group that they have such outstanding work ethic. The girls really do a great job.”   The Lady Beacons have plenty of time and opportunity to develop into a conference contender. Coach Harris is seeing improvement each and every day. With break a mere two weeks away, the girls really have an opportunity to see the giant picture and show they can play with the big boys atop the conference. With outstanding goal tending from junior Leah Hallett and feisty sophomore Alli Greenberg pushing the girls each day in practice, the Lady Beacons will be making noise come spring time.