Zuzana Tomcikova: Between the Pipes

BSU Women’s Hockey Goalie is Gaining National and International Attention

By Cheyenne Horien and Alexandria Leister

For most at Bemidji State University, home is a car ride and a quick trip away. For Zuzana Tomcikova however, going home takes a little more effort. From her hometown of Bratislava, Slovakia, Tomcikova first drives 45 minutes to Vienna, Austira, where she hops on a plane to either Amsterdam or London. She then continues to fly into Minneapolis, ending her trip with a flight from Minneapolis to Bemidji. The total number of miles from Bratislava to Bemidji is 4994.9, with at least 12 hours of flight time.

Why does she endure such a long trip to go to school at BSU? According to Tomcikova, she wanted to play hockey at an upper level while getting her college education at the same time. “College in the states seemed like a great match, and Bemidji just worked out,” explained Tomcikova in an email interview.

She is currently a junior at BSU and majoring in Mass Communications. She is a goalie for not only the BSU women’s hockey team, but the Slovakia national hockey team as well.
Tomcikova has lived away from home since the tender age of 16 and is no stranger to traveling. She attended high school at Caronport High School in Caronport, Saskatchewan. She won a gold medal with the Slovakia national team at the North Korea World Championships. And she earned a spot as the starting goaltender for Team Slovakia at the 2010 Winter Olympics, which brought her all the way to Vancouver, British Columbia.

Living away from home for so long has left Tomcikova little time to be homesick. “My parents raised me to be independent,” Tomcikova stated. “I’ve been away from home, so I don’t really think about it (being homesick). I mean I miss them, but it‘s ok.”

Tomcikova’s family isn’t able to follow all of her BSU games as they are being played. “They read about the results online,” she stated, “but they don’t watch them because of the seven hour time difference.” She added that “When we talk on the phone or Skype, they ask me about my games. I know they care about my hockey and they support me all the way.”

The family that supports her across the miles and raised her to be independent include father, Pavel, and mother, Dana, both of whom are doctors, and older brother Martin, who is studying to become a teacher. In fact, Zuzana has Martin to thank for her hockey career, because he is the one who got her started with the sport in the first place.

“As kids, my brother and I would play street hockey outside in a school yard, and he started to play ice hockey, so I wanted to play as well,” stated Tomcikova, “so my dad brought me to the rink. I was 9 years old.”

The drive to keep up with her older brother paid off, and soon Tomcikova was being nominated to represent her national team for different tournaments. Her favorite part of playing for her national team? “The main thing is that when you put a jersey on that has the logo of your country on it; it’s a different kind of pride. And there are no words to describe the way it feels when you win an important game and then you get to sing the national anthem.”

Tomcikova has now played goalie for Slovakia’s national hockey team for 10 years. “I’d always play goalie during street hockey with my brother and his friends when we were little, so when I started to play ice hockey, I wanted to be a goalie also,” Tomcikova stated. She hopes to be starting goalie for the upcoming international hockey tournament this spring in Zurich. The Slovakian team will begin by playing the USA, Russian and Sweden national teams. The results of those games will determine who the Slovakians will play for the rest of the tournament.

She has also been honored multiple times at the national level. Last season as only a sophomore, she was named WCHA Co-Player of the Year, All-WCHA Second Team, WCHA All-Star Team member and Academic All-WCHA member.

As only a sophomore during the 2009-2010 season - her second consecutive season as the Beaver’s starting goaltender - Tomcikova broke numerous team records. She set the record for career shutouts (8) and shutouts in a single season (5), among others.

“Zuzana has set a number of goaltending records here at BSU in her three years,” BSU women’s hockey coach Steve Sertich stated in an email interview. Sertich, was has coached Tomcikova for all of her three seasons added that “Zuzana has become one of the top goalies in the WCHA (Western Collegiate Hockey Association) and in the country.”

In October, she was named Defensive Player of the Week by the WCHA. Making it the eighth weekly win of her career, Tomcikova broke the previous record for a BSU women’s hockey team player set by former goaltender, Emily Brookshaw.

“She is a leader on the ice by challenging her teammates, and taking the play to a higher level,” Sertich stated.

When it comes to being a goalie, Tomcikova said “I just can’t imagine doing anything else.”

Zuzana Tomcikova, junior goaltender for the BSU women's hockey team.

Photo by bsubeavers.com

Tomcikova holds numerous records for BSU, including most shutouts in a single season.

Photo by bsubeavers.com