Wisconsin Badgers signee, Vivian Jungels, named Ms. Hockey in Minnesota
EDINA, Minn. (BVM) – As her senior season of Minnesota high school hockey came to an end, Vivian Jungels received one last accolade to add to an already-stellar career. The Edina High School defender was named Ms. Hockey.
“I was really surprised,” Jungels said. “I think it was a good way to end my senior year.”
Being named the top senior hockey player in the state of Minnesota is not something Jungels takes lightly. Although she had 16 goals and 32 assists for 48 points while leading the Hornets to a third place finish in the MSHSL Class 2A state tournament, Jungels was not expecting to receive the award.
“There were five people up for it that were finalists and everybody had so much talent so I didn’t really expect anything,” Jungels said. “Even the top-10 and there’s lots of other people that definitely could’ve been up for it too so it’s really pretty special.”
It was a fitting end to a career that almost ended early since there was a strong possibility that Jungels would head to college after last season. Even before high school, Jungels was being recruited by colleges and when the University of Minnesota began talking to her, they had told her they wanted her to graduate from high school in three years.
Jungels committed to Minnesota and planned for high school with the goal of graduating in three years. She took classes during the summer and did accomplish her goal of graduating early. However, because of the extra year of eligibility given to all college athletes by the NCAA, Minnesota was able to ask their seniors to return. That decision led Jungels to make the tough decision of staying for her senior year of high school and decommitting from Minnesota.
It was a hard choice to make especially because at the time, Jungels’ older sister was playing for the Gophers, but it’s not a choice Jungels regrets.
“I definitely made the right choice and am happy with how everything ended up and it was definitely worth it staying back,” Jungels said. “I think last year when I made the final decision, I was a little bummed. It was just kind of hard at first but after this year, I couldn’t be any happier with how it went.”
Playing another year with her teammates and coaches and school were not the issue with coming back. The problem was figuring out where she would play college hockey.
“I didn’t know if I would have any other options,” Jungels said.
She was reopening her recruitment late and because she wanted to stay near to home, that also limited her options. The stress from trying to find a college along with preparing for a hockey season and taking college courses did weigh on Jungels.
“It just felt like there was a lot going on,” Jungels said.
With Edina’s season beginning, Jungels noticed the stress affecting her game and she decided she needed to make a decision on where she should play next year. The University of Wisconsin won out in the end and she committed to the Badgers last November.
“I’m really thankful Wisconsin gave me the opportunity,” Jungels said. “I’m so excited.”
Jungels might be thankful, but it’s no surprise that the Badgers were willing to give her an opportunity to play in Madison. The defender has been skating at a high level her entire life.
“Basically as soon as I could walk, I was skating,” Jungels said.
Once she was skating, her competitiveness and the sibling rivalry she had with her brother and sister fueled her desire to get better at hockey. By the time she was in seventh and eighth grade, college coaches had seen enough and began to recruit her.
“I’m very competitive and I always wanted to beat my siblings in whatever game we were playing,” Jungels said.
“If my sister or my brother were going in to work out that day I felt like I had to go with them because it would be like they’d be getting better that day and I wasn’t. So I’d always have to go because I didn’t want to be taking the day off.”
That mentality quickly led to success at Edina. As a freshman, she tied for third on the team in assists with 21 and won a state title with the Hornets. Her sophomore year saw her do much of the same as she was second in assists for the Hornets and fourth in points. Then in her junior year, she won her second state title.
Her career could have ended there, but it didn’t and like Jungels said, she’s glad she stayed. Jungels was able to become the all-time leader in assists for Edina in February, passing her coach Sami Reber who held the record with 122 career assists.
“I had no idea until Sami told me,” Jungels said.
She also ended her career with the most points of any Hornets defender but most importantly, her coming back gave her one more chance to play Minnesota high school hockey.
“People always say Minnesota high school hockey is the best and looking back now that I’m done, it really is,” Jungels said.
