Proving statistics and social norms wrong seems scary and oftentimes almost impossible. However, when freshman Karissa Murdoch does it, she makes it look easy. Murdoch has shown off her hockey skills since right before sixth grade!

Playing for two leagues seems like a lot, including the Las Vegas Storm Girl’s team, and the Los Angeles Kings High School Hockey League for boys of any age in high school. Murdoch proved all her doubters wrong, dominating on the ice with both girls and boys.

“I had wanted to play for a long time growing up,” said Murdoch. “My dad finally told me that if I wanted to play hockey I’d need to learn to skate. So, I spent an entire summer at the ice rink and taught myself to skate so then eventually my dad had no choice but to finally let me play. So, I guess proving my dad wrong inspired me to play.”

Showing off and proving everyone wrong is a big push factor as Murdoch is a very competitive soul. She strives to do better just to do so.

“Being on a male team definitely does push me to work harder, being a girl on a boys team puts you at a physical disadvantage anyway,” Murdoch explains. “I’m playing alongside and against 17 and 18 year old guys, plus I was the youngest on my team where I was forced to work much harder just to even keep up. After months on end of skating with these guys 5+ times a week eventually you just catch up. To be honest though the boys on my team don’t treat me any differently because I am a girl, if anything they push me harder.”

Murdoch makes such different and difficult extremes seem so simple and care free, but at the end of the day Murdoch is human like anyone else and still struggles with self discouragement and anger when playing and practicing.

“Just like any athlete, frustration comes when playing,” describes Murdoch. “I have learned to take a game one shift at a time. When something frustrates me in a shift, it is usually something I did that I felt I could’ve done better, so I will commit my next shift to not making the same mistakes I made last time. Usually that helps me keep my composure.”

No matter how long her practices run, how tired she is from her busy schedule, how hard it is to make chemistry with her teammates, and how frustrated she is with her own performance, Murdoch finds a way to make each and every moment on the ice worth it. There is always space for improvement and hard work, and many more years to look forward to with Murdoch’s impressive hockey career.