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| Wild Women's Katie Fairclough in action at the 2023 Bristol Tournament (Photo by Flyfifer Photography) |
The DMUK Widnes Wild women’s team have added some firepower to their roster for the new 2023/24 WNIHL season with the return of 3 more players from last season’s team.
Between them, Katie Fairclough, Preston Gennoe and Laura Marcroft notched up 37 goals and 25 assists in the Wild Women’s Division 2 North campaign, which saw them finish runners up in the final league table.
Katie Fairclough first joined the Wild in 2017 and will be back for her sixth season in Widnes colours.
She originally started off playing Roller Hockey and was a GB International in that sport before switching to playing on ice. Since taking up ice hockey, Katie has gained international honours at GB Women’s Under 18 level and was league title winner with the Wild women in 2020.
Last season, Fairclough was the Wild women’s second highest scorer with 20 goals and 12 assists in 13 games and, overall, she has played 62 games for Widnes, scoring 29+20 with 71 penalty minutes.
She also played 17 games for the Manchester University teams last season, scoring 11 goals and 2 assists.
Looking ahead to the new season, Fairclough said: “After the amazing season we just had, I’m looking forward to what should be another great season this year. While we narrowly missed out on promotion, I think we’re in with a good shot this year. It’s been great to see so many new players on the team, but at the same time we have a very strong base of well established players who can bring in the results at the same time as developing the newer members of the squad. I can’t wait to get back on the ice for the first game!”
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| Preston Gennoe (Photo by Flyfifer Photography) |
Preston Gennoe joined the Wild women for the 2021/22 season and is returning for her third campaign. She was the team’s top scorer in the Women’s Premier League that year and, in 26 games overall, has contributed 21 goals and 14 assists, with 32 penalty minutes.
Talking about her re-signing, Gennoe said: ““I’m feeling excited about the new season. It’s my 3rd season with the Wild and I couldn’t ask for a better group of girls to play and progress with.”
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| Laura Marcroft (Photo by Flyfifer Photography) |
Laura Marcroft has played for the Wild women for 4 seasons overall and was another member of the team that won the Division 1 North title in 2020.
Overall she has scored 5 goals and 9 assists in 53 games, picking up just 4 penalty minutes in that time and last season was her most productive to date in terms of points, as she scored 4+2 and was also awarded the Hardest Worker award by the coaches.
Marcroft said of her return for the new season: I’m looking forward to the season ahead, to see how we can build on the last season as a team. Taking part in the playoffs was a huge boost for the team and for me as a player. I hope as a player I can continue to improve and contribute to some more goals this year. All in all, I am looking forward to the year ahead and what it will bring.”
