Danielle Serdachny leaves Colgate as the program's all-time leading scorer, and having won four straight ECAC titles. She reflected on her five year career following elimination from the NCAA Frozen Four.
Danielle Serdachny has spent nearly a quarter of her life in a Colgate Raiders uniform. That time, which included spectacular individual and team achievements came to an end Friday night at the hands of Wisconsin in the NCAA's Frozen Four.
"Five years is a long time," Serdachny said following the game.
In total, Serdachny played 179 regular season games for Colgate in that span, finishing as the program's all-time leading scorer with 238 points. Individually it's a span that included Serdachny being named the ECAC Player of the Year multiple times and an All-American. Looking back, it was hard for Serdachny to sum up the time.
"I can't really find the words for it right now, but these past five years have been the greatest five years in my life," said Serdachny.
"I'm so fortunate for the people I've met along the way, whether that's my teammates, coaches, people in the community. I'm going to look back at my career and just be so fortunate and grateful to have chosen a place like Colgate."
Colgate was fortunate to have Serdachny as well, as the program won four straight ECAC championships with her on the roster.
"I'm just so grateful for the opportunity to represent Colgate University and be surrounded by outstanding people every single day...they've meant everything. Obviously, we came a bit short today, but I remain so proud of our group for the whole year, in the years past, and also how we played today. It's hard to have words after a game like that."
Serdachny looked like she might not see the end of the game after taking a hard hit and coming off the ice favouring her shoulder. Looking down the bench at his star player, head coach Greg Fargo saw the determination Serdachny has showed throughout her career.
"It's just indicative of who she is as a person, how much she cares about her team, and how much she wants to help the team succeed," said Fargo. "She's been like that her entire career, and so there was to no one surprised tonight that it was the same."
While Colgate fell short on an NCAA title, Serdachny finishes as the most successful player in program history. She is set to represent Team Canada for the second straight World Championships, and will enter the PWHL Draft this year to begin her professional hockey career.