Vienna resident Katie Pounder was one of 29 Lebanon Valley College hockey players named to the All-Academic Team for her senior season. Pounder was also named an All-American Scholar by the American Hockey Coaches Association.
She graduated from Lebanon with a master of science in clinical mental health counseling. Pounder contributed to the hockey team, with five points on four goals and one assist while winning 158 faceoffs.
I think all five years that I played hockey at Lebanon Valley College, I was named to both leagues for the academic team, and that was always something I aspired to, Pounder said. Around my junior year, I learned that there was a higher honor, All-American Scholar, and that was something I wanted to push myself toward. My senior year, I was fortunate enough to be considered for that, but there was some confusion in the coaching and administrative side of it, so it was a little disappointing. To be able to finish out my athletic and collegiate career, it was very exciting to be named an All-American.
Pounder not only excelled in the classroom, but also on the ice for the Flying Dutchmen during her five years at Lebanon Valley. She recorded a season-high three blocks against SUNY Morrisville and scored nine points with three goals and six assists last season.
I would give a lot of credit to my youth coaches. I had a skills coach that I worked with really closely for about eight years, and he was actually a Lebanon alumnus, so we had that connection, she said. I saw a lot of my development at Pilot Mound Academy, where I really kicked it into high gear to recruit for college, so I really gave my coaches credit there. Being away from home a little bit made the transition to college a lot easier for me compared to my peers.
Pounder knew growing up that she wanted to play professional ice hockey. She started skating when she was four years old and joined a team when she was six.
Pounder envisioned becoming a student-athlete because school was always something she wanted to push herself in. She is the middle sister of three, and her path led to her becoming the only hockey player in her family.
I always prided myself on being able to balance school and sports so well. Even when I missed school because of ice hockey, I always made sure to communicate with my teachers at a young age, she said. When I went to college, I was just standing up for myself to professors.
Pounder said that now that she is no longer a student, she would be a different person without hockey.
It’s been a part of my life since I can remember, and when my senior season ended in February, it was a very mixed bag, she said. I think after my four years in NCAA Hockey, I was fortunate enough to have an extra year of eligibility because of COVID. So I thought long and hard about whether a fifth year would be reasonable or feasible.
Ultimately, she decided to play her fifth and final year, which was an overwhelming time for her, but she received help from working with various mental health organizations. Pounder felt relieved when her days as an athlete were over, allowing her to focus on school.
Hockey has definitely shaped me in so many ways into the person I am today; I think it’s taught me a lot of responsibility and I’ve been fortunate enough to serve as a captain on multiple teams, she said. That leadership experience really came to the forefront after I graduated when I was looking for jobs in interviews. Also, time management and discipline in myself and the expectations that I have of other people in my life; I contribute a lot of that through hockey.
Pounder is eternally grateful for the Lebanon Valley experience. As soon as she stepped onto campus her freshman year after a COVID-19 rollercoaster, she knew it was home. She returned to Virginia in 2018 after spending time in Canada.
It helped me tremendously and helped me realize that I wanted to go to school closer to my family. So I started looking for schools that were somewhat close, and Lebanon Valley, about a two-hour drive away, was the perfect distance, Pounder said.
She recalls her days as a forward for the Flying Dutchmen, where they secured a playoff spot in back-to-back seasons, the first in program history. She said she will cherish those moments forever.
When the going gets tough, the mentality she instilled in herself during her playing days, the hard-working, the persevering, Pounder kept reminding herself that hockey was still something she had to enjoy.
