Two local female hockey players readying for national stage
The friendship between Bella Crugnale and Cali Heidenreich is on ice.
And also on dry land.
The two seniors from Canon-McMillan High School are making one final trip together, albeit on different teams, to the USA National Hockey Championships, which get underway Thursday in Marlborough, Mass., near Boston.
The two forwards are part of the teams that make up the Penguins Elite program. Heidenreich competes for the Steel City Selects 19-under team and Crugnale for the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 19-under team.
Crugnale is competing on the Tier 1 level and Heidenreich the Tier 2 level. The tournaments run for five days and the Steel City Selects are making their third trip to nationals. Crugnale’s team, coached by Chris Stern, has made it three of the last four years with a third-place finish three seasons ago.
Crugnale, who has been friends with Heidenreich since kindergarten, got into hockey by sitting in the stands, watching her twin brother, Tony, play.
“I didn’t like watching so I decided to play too,” Crugnale said. “I was seven or eight when I started. It was exciting. I wanted to be on the ice more and more.”
Crugnale’s brother played on the hockey team at Canon-McMillan and Bella tried out, too. She earned a spot on the junior-varsity team but decided to give that up to concentrate on her Elite team.
“People are always surprised when I tell them I play hockey,” she said. “I would have been first call-up from JV but I decided to just play on the girls’ team.”
Crugnale’s team normally practices at Shady Side Academy or UPMC’s Lemieux Sports Center in Cranberry Township. It plays a five-game schedule over weekend trips in cities on the eastern part of the United States.
Crugnale and Heidenreich also played on the lacrosse team at Canon-McMillan.
“I lettered twice so I thought I did pretty good for just starting,” Heidenreich said. “One day, my coach asked me to play defense and I loved it. You can still run the ball down the field. I really loved it but had to quit when I got a job.”
Crugnale is heading to the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine, next fall and Heidenreich chose Mercyhurst.
“I love the rush from playing,” Heidenreich said about hockey. “I’m going to play on the (women’s) club team.”
Both girls are also used to dealing with the long trips.
“I get my homework done as best I can,” Heidenreich said. “My grades don’t look too bad.”
“We have a study group,” Crugnale said. “We help each other out.”
Heidenreich has special motivation to win the tournament.
“One of my friends got hurt and can no longer play hockey,” Heidenreich said. “Seeing her like that hurts me, so I really want to win this for her.”