Northern Star: Emma Soderberg
Soderberg sits in the top ten in almost every statistical category in a long line of extraordinary goalies.
DULUTH, Minn.- Emma Soderberg, a native of Jarved, Sweden, was surrounded by the sport for as long as she can remember. Coming from a family of hockey players, Soderberg naturally took to the sport and even played alongside the boys, up until high school.
“I started playing with boys on this out door rink at home and it was kind of all I knew. From the start when I played hockey there was one other girl for a while that I played with but it was mostly boys for me, it wasn’t anything weird about it. I was always very comfortable around them, I always had very welcoming teammates. So, obviously it’s a transition when you switch to women’s hockey but I think it prepared me well for what was ahead of me,” says Soderberg.
As for her journey to becoming a Bulldog, Soderberg says the risk moving so far from home was well worth taking.
“In Sweden we don’t grow up knowing as much about college hockey. So, the coaches reached out to me during my second year of high school and just started explaining, ‘this is our program’, telling me more about it and that they wanted me to come here. So I was like, this sounds really cool, all they have going on, so I felt like it would be a good step for me in my development to take the risk in coming here and, I’m very happy I did,” says Soderberg.
“”We saw ‘Sodes’ when she was playing for the Swedish U18 team and she won goal-tender of the tournament and sort of solidified herself as one of the top goalies in the country so, we knew we wanted to get to know her and hopefully bring her over here and obviously that worked out well for us,” says UMD women’s hockey head coach Maura Crowell.
When all eyes are on her, Soderberg stays cool under the pressure of defending the net. Something she gives credit to her teammates for.
“Yes, goalie you’re a little bit more isolated because it’s very obvious if you make a mistake and that kind of stuff, but you have some many teammates in front of me that will do anything for me and that also brings a calmness to my game, because I know they’re going to throw their body on the line to help me make the save as well. I never feel alone out there, I always have my team behind my back,” says Soderberg.
“She has both sides of the game where she understands the technical aspect, smart so she understands the reads, what the threat is, what’s coming next and she’s super athletic to be able to make some dynamic saves. So, those are the parts that make it hard and I think what makes her special is she’s good at all of those,” says Crowell.
As of right now, Soderberg sits in the top ten in almost every statistical category in a long line of extraordinary goalies. The future of this Bulldog is unknown at this point, but Soderberg says she’s not quite ready to hang up her skates.
“I know I want to keep playing hockey and just going to have to see where the fit is. My plan has always been to move back home to Sweden to play there again, but I want to keep my options open to see what’s available next year and what’s the best fit for me as a person and a hockey player,” says Soderberg.
Next up, the Bulldogs will host Harvard for a two game series at Amsoil Arena. Puck drop is set for 6 PM, Friday.
