ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – While New Mexico isn’t exactly known for women’s hockey, that doesn’t mean that talent can’t be found in the Land of Enchantment. Sonny Watrous earned a scholarship at Providence over 20 years ago, and now a second player has found a spot at the Division I level.
Albuquerque native Taylor Hartinger has been playing hockey from a young age. Her father Vladimir was a member of the New Mexico Scorpions in the mid 2000s and taught her to love the game. Now, she is going to continue her career collegiately at Franklin Pierce.
“I am feeling a mixture of emotions right now, I am super excited,” said Hartinger. “You know, I love the speed and aggression of the game and I love how competitive it is and just being able to do that at the next level, I am so excited to see what the game brings.”
After starting her hockey career locally, Hartinger then traveled the country to play. After making stops in places like Detroit, Chicago, and Philadelphia, she began to make connections with some trailblazers in women’s hockey.
She skipped her second year of U16 and played up in U19 and played for some of the top coaches in the country. Among them is the first-ever woman to be an assistant in the NHL, Jessica Campbell with the Seattle Kraken.
Hartinger says that she wants to play for as long as she can and go as far as she can in the sport. She believes the program she is going to at Franklin Pierce can help her reach those goals and she excited for what the future holds.
“They won the NEWHA Championship in the 2021 season and then just this past year they placed 2nd in their own league. It was the one place where I was like this is where I want to be, like this is just perfect.”
