Clara Billings' competitive fire, ignited at Lourdes, is showing at Gustavus Adolphus

Feb. 10—ROCHESTER — The last two years of Clara Billings' career with the Gustavus Adolphus College women's hockey team have mirrored her final two years at Rochester Lourdes.

As a senior during the 2018-2019 season, Billings led the Eagles to a Class A girls hockey state tournament berth after losing in the Section 1A championship game the season prior. This year, as one of 10 seniors at Gustavus, Billings is part of a team searching for a national championship after losing to Middlebury in last seasons' NCAA Division III championship game.

Contending for a national title in back-to-back seasons puts an immense amount of pressure on the No. 2-ranked Gustavus team, much like the Lourdes girls team felt when Billings was a senior there.

Billings said her team at Gustavus did feel a target on its back heading into the 2022-2023 season, especially to "prove that last year's success was not a fluke," she said.

"It wasn't just because pucks went our way," she continued, "but it was because of the work we put in and the experience we had and our determination to get to that point."

Jeff True, Billings' coach at Lourdes, saw that competitiveness firsthand, like in her junior year, when she led the team in penalties. During her final year, True referred to her as the "heart and soul" of the Eagles team.

"That whole comment was (about) her competitive fire and her desire to always be overachieving and always be up for every practice, every game, not make excuses for her play or the play of the team," True said.

Billings has that same drive now, playing in St. Peter. Her leadership is less vocal than it was in high school, but Billings has rolled with the changes, as she navigates being a leader on a team filled with upperclassmen.

Since first stepping on the ice at Gustavus, Billings was learning from the four upperclassmen on the Gusties' roster and finding her place on the team.

Billings was a vocal leader at Lourdes, but she had to be. As a player who was the unquestioned captain of every youth team she was on, teammates looked to her to set the tone.

But she couldn't be that at Gustavus. Even as a senior this season, Billings is leading behind a trio of fifth-year players who remained captains. So, instead of a vocal leader, Billings morphed into a role model.

"Day in and day out, anyone can look at me at practice or games and see that I'm giving 110%, and that I want to be there, and I want to get better every single day," she said. "I'm putting in extra work, the extra hours on the ice, outside of practice. Hopefully, that is very inspiring to the younger kids.

"Maybe I didn't do as good on a test as I wanted, and I'm having a bad day, but I'm going to always give 110% and work my butt off, because I want everyone else to do the same."

Billings' confidence level has skyrocketed thanks to her leadership roles the past two years. She earned the respect of teammates and, again, has people relying on her and "trusting me to put my best foot forward every day," she said.

"That's made the game even more fun for me," she said.

Hockey was more emotional than fun for Billings in January. On Jan. 13, the same day that teammate Heather Olinger suffered the fracture of two vertabrae, Billings tore her labrum. But she's set to be back on the ice in time for the Gusties' final regular season series — a home-and-home next Friday and Saturday against St. Olaf — before the team makes another run at the national championship.

And, just like the determination that pushed the 2018-2019 Lourdes team to the state tournament, Billings and her teammates will have the memories of last season's tournament to push them to not let this title slip away. At least, True thinks so.

"All those girls came back (after the 2017-2018 section title loss) and had a motto of 'unfinished business.' We made it our goal to get not just that section championship, we wanted to get to the state tournament. And we did," True said. "And I think Clara and her teammates, when they see how close they came and where they've been historically as a program, you always set the bar high. I see the success (this year), and it's not surprising.

"I think this team is a lot like what I saw last year, but maybe just a little more desire to get to that next step and maybe a little bit more competitiveness against the best teams and showing that they're a national championship contender."