Four years.
On paper, it seems like a long time. But in collegiate athletics, it is gone in the blink of an eye. Players come and go and teams rebuild, forced to deal with the ever-revolving door of graduations and commitment signings.
For a pair of forwards on the Wisconsin women's hockey team, however, the last four years have been a model of consistency.
Seniors Angie Keseley and Erika Lawler have lined up next to each other in nearly every game of their collegiate careers. They have skated together, through both elation and disappointment, as part of the most successful class in the history of Wisconsin women's hockey.
I'm just really comfortable with her,"" Lawler said of Keseley. ""We always joke about how we've been together since day one and never separated really, ever.""
The pair has been dynamic from the start. Keseley scored a class-leading 33 points her freshman year, with Lawler one assist behind. On the way to Wisconsin's first-ever national championship, both played on an all-freshman line responsible for the game-winning goals in each of the team's first two NCAA tournament games.
""Being freshmen, we didn't know what it was like playing in the Frozen Four,"" Lawler said. ""We just went out there every shift and didn't have any expectations. [We] just went out there, tried as hard as we could [and did] what we could for the team.""
The attitude has not changed, and neither has the production. Lawler leads the team this year with 31 assists, and Keseley is not far behind with 24. All told, the two seniors play on a line responsible for 57 of Wisconsin's 147 goals this season.
According to Lawler, the pair's laid-back approach is a large part of what has kept them together.
""The best part about Angie and I is that we don't get mad at each other if we make mistakes,"" she said. ""We know that they're going to happen. We just try to take it one shift at a time.""
The pair's relationship off the ice is also a big factor in their on-ice chemistry.
""[Erika and I] are just great friends,"" Keseley said. ""We're really close off the ice, which I think really contributes to playing well together on the ice.""
Sophomore forward Hilary Knight has picked up on that chemistry, too. The Badgers' leading goal scorer this season, Knight has played on the same line with Lawler and Keseley for her entire collegiate career.
""They had been playing together, [so] it was easier just to adapt to their game,"" Knight said. ""They welcomed me with open arms.""
Entering the final month of the regular season, Lawler and Keseley cannot help but feel their careers at the UW beginning to wind down.
""It makes me a little sad to think about it,"" Lawler said. ""It flies by. Since it's the second half, I have thought about it. You can't avoid it. It's reality.""
Even with their careers at Wisconsin coming to an end, Lawler and Keseley sense there is some unfinished business for the Badgers. As part of a class that won national titles in each of its first two seasons, both forwards know there is really only one way to close out their final campaign for the Cardinal and White.
""It goes to show that you really do have to leave everything out there,"" Lawler said of Wisconsin's loss to
Minnesota-Duluth in the NCAA championship game last March.
""All of us right now are just focused on leaving on a positive note and doing what we can to make this season last as long as we can.""
