More on recent Badger Women recruits

Well, 60 asked for Dplaya's thoughts over on HIW, and he has answered.

"I've seen Decker play quite a few times and she has been nothing less than dominant every time I have seen her. Unlike her Shattuck teammate and fellow Wisconsinite Amanda Kessel who has blistering speed, Decker excels in puck control even with opposing players draped all over her.

Decker stepped out of the shadows of the Lamoureux twins (both of whom will play for Minnesota this season) last year at Shattuck St. Mary's scoring 79 goals and 45 assists for 124 points in just 55 games. Decker was fantastic this off-season as well at not only the National Select 17 Girls festival where she had five goals and five assists for ten points, four more points than any other player but also at the US U-18 series against Canada where she notched four goals and two assists for six points, three more than any other player."

Sounds like Mark Johnson and company landed themselves a great one here! And they might not be too far off w/ the Kelter twins from Eagle River, Alaska. I couldn't find any readily available information on the older twin Derya, but I did found a few things on Alev.

It appears that Alev is not only a talented hockey player (she helped the US U18 Women's team to the gold in December), but she is also a great soccer player. For her efforts in various sports in Alaska, she was named Female Athelete of the Year in Alaska (I'm assuming that is just HS). Also, she was named Rise Magazine Alaska Girl's Soccer POY.

In the article from the Anchorage Daily News, I guess she played w/ the boys hockey team last year as well.

'A week later she suited up in hockey gear to play defense on the boys varsity hockey team. It's not uncommon to have girls playing boys hockey around the state, but this season Kelter was the only girl to play in the Cook Inlet Conference, arguably the toughest high school hockey league in Alaska.

Kelter had the option to play in the all-girls league, but her style of play is more suited to skate with the boys.

"She likes to play a physical hockey game," said Chugiak coach Rod Wild.'

More..

'"She brings more than just skill to the team," Chugiak soccer coach Dan Pinkerton said. "She brings team leadership."

Several Chugiak hockey players graduated this year, so Wild said she'll have big shoes to fill on the blueline. Wild isn't the least concerned with her work ethic -- or gender.

"She always has the goal of getting better," he said. "She spends a lot of time comparing today to yesterday."

Asked whether she has the skills to play Division I girls hockey, Wild replied, "She can go wherever she wants."'

Again, nice work to Mark Johnson and staff on picking up some great recruits!