She may be new to the team, but forward Alex McVicker is definitely not new to the sport. McVicker is the most recent addition to the Penn State Lady Icers' roster and has been proving her skill in ice hockey to her teammates since first stepping onto the ice.

Born in Washington state into a military family, Alex has moved all over the place. She has been living in Virginia Beach for the past six years, before coming to Penn State this spring.

The middle child between two brothers, sports has always been part of her life. It was her brother, Andrew, who got her interested in ice hockey.

"My younger brother, he was the one who wanted to start playing ice hockey, because we used to always play roller hockey," McVicker said. "I don't know, he just wanted to play ice hockey, and I was like 'Hey, I wanna try it to,' so then we both started out together."

Unfortunately, Virginia Beach did not come equipped with a women's ice hockey team. If McVicker wanted to play, she would have to join an all-male team, the Hampton Roads Junior Admirals.

"It was the only team in Virginia Beach for me to play on," McVicker said. "It was either that or nothing. I really wanted to try it, so my parents, they were kind of worried at first because it was all guys and I was a girl just starting out. They were kind of cautious, but they let me do it because I really wanted to."

So, with her parents supporting her, Alex decided to play for the team. Besides the fact that she was the only girl, she was also just starting out. Nervousness or intimidation, however, was not an issue for Alex.

"It just wasn't (nervous)," she said. "I was just all about going out and having a good time. I never really thought about it."

The boys on the opposing teams, however, were thinking about it.

"It seemed like they were either, 'Oh, there's a girl. Be careful. Be nice and stuff,' McVicker said. "Or they were like, 'There's a girl. Let's go kill her.' Some people would back off and not check me and some would just go out and try to hit me whenever they could."

Alex said that the guys on her team were all really nice, though, and she enjoyed playing with the all-male team because it helped her to stand up for herself. She added that playing with women is much different from playing on a men's ice hockey team.

"It's a lot less physical," she said. "If you watch the games, if you watch guys and then you watch girls play, it is definitely a lot slower paced game."

Being the only girl was fun, she said, because you always have to be on your toes, but Alex also likes playing on all-female teams. She is really enjoying herself as a Lady Icer.

She has already scored two goals since her addition to the team. Her first goal was the game winner in her debut game with the Lady Icers. She also scored a goal this past weekend at the Erie Valentine Tounament, helping the Lady Icers beat the Ohio Flames.

Besides ice hockey, snowboarding and surfing are two other interests Alex has. She has also played basketball and softball. She chose to play ice hockey in college because, "I excelled at that the most and I just found it really fun," she said.

She chose Penn State because she wanted to play ice hockey and she has a lot of family in Pittsburgh. She applied to Virginia Tech, but didn't like their ice hockey team as much.

So far she is enjoying college life at Penn State, despite the temperature difference from Virginia Beach.

"It's pretty cool," she said. "It's just really freezing out, and I have to get used to that." Temperature problem aside, Alex fits in well to the Penn State ice hockey program.

"She's adjusted well to all three lines," coach Billie Willits said. "She knows how to go to the net and she knows how to score."