NCAA D1 champs land Carter
When Jaela Carter went looking for an American university to pursue her hockey dreams, she didn’t mess around.
The Grade 12 student at Saint Michael has committed to play with the Clarkson Golden Knights in Potsdam, N.Y. The NCAA Division 1 program made the NCAA tournament in 2012-13 as an at-large bid and lost in quarter-finals. In 2023-24, the Golden Knights went 31-5-5 overall and won the NCAA championship.
“They were the second school I visited and I fell in love with it when I was on campus,” the 17-year-old Niagara Falls resident said. “There’s a great culture, everyone is like a family there, they have great facilities and the coaches were very welcoming. And seeing the rink, I felt it was an actual home.”
Six or seven schools expressed an interest in her but Penn State was the only other school that she checked out with an official visit.
“I didn’t need any more after that. I was done.”
The Burlington Barracudas travel player and former Team Ontario member has an impressive hockey background.
The 5-foot-5, 165-pound defenceman started playing hockey in the Niagara Falls minor system and then moved up to the Falls boys travel program from ages seven to 12. She then moved to the Southern Tier Admirals AAA boys program for two seasons before spending three seasons with the Stoney Creek Sabres girls travel program
“Growing up playing with the boys, I was thinking that I was pretty good at being able to keep up with the game but when I switched over to girls, I was out for the first half of the year in under-15 because of my ACL,” she said. “When I came back, I felt that I was able to dominate the game a little bit and then U18 we went to nationals and played in the Esso Cup. It was a crazy different stage playing against some of the best girls at the U18 level. We got a lot of exposure and I think that helped.”
At the Esso Cup, Carter had a goal and six assists in seven games and Stoney Creek went 7-0 to win the tournament.
“It was unreal. We knew we had a good team and we came into it and we were like ‘OK, we have a chance.’ Then we just killed. We won every game there.”
Carter and her teammates were on everyone’s radar before and after the Esso Cup.
“Our team had a lot of attention towards it because a lot of schools knew we had a chance to go to Esso. It was broadcast so a lot of schools got to watch it. That is when Clarkson got to see me so that was nice.”
The likely business major is aiming high for her first season at Clarkson.
“Obviously you have to earn your spot and to be able to start playing in games would be crazy good.”
She can’t wait to get started.
“I’m looking forward to meeting new people and growing different bonds. Obviously, it’s about the hockey but you also get an education. Altogether, it’s a great experience.”
She is hoping her game continues to develop.
“When I was playing with the boys, I was very defensive and over the years I have tried to progress with my offence: jumping into the rush; moving the puck; and, rushing.”
Carter knows she is far from a finished product.
“Speed is really important to the game so in the gym I have been working on speed a lot and also power skating. And I still work on my shooting, stickhandling and all the little stuff.”
The Saint Michael Grade 11 athlete of the year in 2024 can attribute much of her success to a well-stocked gene pool.
Her mother, Kathy, played Division 1 tennis at Indiana State and her father, Brian, played scholarship football at McMaster and is a member of the A.N. Myer Sports Hall of Fame. She feels she has similarities to both.
“My mom and I are very much the same body wise — the grind — but my dad is pretty athletic too. He has got scrawny legs but he is a good athlete.”
Carter also plays volleyball, softball, badminton and tennis at Saint Michael. She gave up soccer because of the risk of injuries.
