Ice Hockey
Favorite athletes: It’s so hard to just pick one so here are my top 3 - Travis Konency, Connor McDavid, Saquon Barkley
Favorite team: Philadelphia Flyers or Philadelphia Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: I got to go to Florida and Brazil with the National Puerto Rican Women’s ice hockey team
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: My very first year playing ice hockey, I was taking a face-off and I won it back, but my goalie wasn’t ready and it went into my net. Essentially, I scored a goal for the other team.
Music on playlist: I listen to a lot of different genres of music, but for hockey, I listen to a lot of 80s rock and 2010s pop.
Future plans: I’ve committed to Liberty University to play ice hockey. I plan on serving my country at some point in my career.
Words to live by: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” Philippians 4:13
One goal before turning 30: One goal I have is to travel overseas-Greece, Japan and Iceland
One thing people don’t know about me: I am in the process of getting my private pilot’s license
By GORDON GLANTZ
And there it was.
The Wissahickon ice hockey team was at a crucial fork in the road of the ongoing 2024-25 season.
The Trojans were missing some key players facing a Springfield team that was better than its record indicated. A loss would have been a severe blow.
The score was tied, 4-4, with around two minutes to go. The puck went into the corner in the Trojans’ offensive zone. A 5-foot-5 skater with a ponytail chased and took a big hit while feathering a pass out front for what turned out to be the winning goal.
The assist came from senior forward Sabrina Honeycutt, one of the few females in the SHSHL. The goal was scored by her younger brother, Logan.
“I realized we needed to get that last goal before the other team did,” said Honeycutt. “We just went all out, chasing the puck. I went into the boards and ended up getting absolutely crushed going into the corner. I was still able to throw the puck over to my brother out in front and he took it right in.”
Wissahickon coach James Rumsey was unfazed by the gutsy play. Just the fact that he had her on the ice at crunch time speaks volumes.
“She is one of the best positional players that I know,” said the coach. “She has a ton of confidence. She takes it and gives it to guys that are almost twice her size. She knows that is part of the game and doesn’t take anything personally.
“She played a big part in the win, and she set up that goal in the end. She did a really good job.”
In terms of being smaller, Honeycutt wears it as a badge of honor.
“I’m very tiny,” she said. “It’s painfully obvious how small I am. Some guys on other teams won’t hit me. Others don’t care, and they will hit me. I have brothers, though. I can take a hit.”
Sport of Choice
Honeycutt, who has played just about every sport there is – from lacrosse to diving to gymnastics to flag football to baseball to dance – started ice hockey in fifth grade while wearing a pair of hand-me-down skatesfrom her older brother, Hudson.
It soon became her sport of choice, and she found herself so dominant against other girls it led to a quandary about playing high school hockey with and against mostly boys.
Her parents, Sandra and Joe Honeycutt, were rightfully concerned.
“In the beginning, they didn’t want me out there because I was small and some guys don’t care,” said Honeycutt. “It was a hard decision. I played against girls my whole life, and it was different from playing against guys. It is vastly more physical.”
She played in the SHSHL as a freshman but not as a sophomore before coming back last season and this.
As it has all turned out, she believes she has benefitted from the SHSHL experience.
“It has made me so much better,” she said. “Against boys, you have to be aware of your surroundings at all times and move your feet to every puck. With girls, it is more like half-speed. It’s just not as fast or as physical.”
Promoted
When Honeycutt returned to the Wissahickon program last season, Rumsey named her an assistant captain, a role she relishes and remains in this season.
“I think Sabrina brings leadership from a different perspective,” said Rumsey. “She holds people accountable for their performance on the ice. She has a lot of experience in the game, too. She has been playing it for so
long.
“She has a younger brother on the team, and I think a lot of people just have a lot of respect for both of them. I just think her being an older sister has, in a lot of ways, put her in a position to also be a leader on a team with a bunch of young men.”
Rumsey sees unwavering maturity as a key to her leadership skills.
“She just holds people accountable and lets people know what is expected of them,” he said. “She is just a very mature individual. She says what is on her mind, and she just has a lot of knowledge of the game.”
The other girls on the team -- Rumsey’s daughter, sophomore Brielle Rumsey, and backup goalie Caitlin Campbell -- specifically benefit from Honeycutt being an assistant captain.
“She is a senior in high school, and she is respected by all the guys on the team, too, but I think, especially, the other girls really look up to her,” said Rumsey. “They may realize that they might be in that position one day. She just has a really good disposition about her. She’s smart and mature, but she also speaks her mind.
“She makes sure everyone on the team gives it their best. She is really encouraging, too. I think that she does a really good job of that. She gives everyone a really positive perspective on their game, but she also holds the boys accountable whenever she doesn’t think they are playing to their full talent level.”
Honeycutt explained her leadership approach and how it varies from the team’s male leaders.
“I lead by showing,” she said. “When one of my teammates needs help with doing something, I’ll say something like, ‘Stay up by your defenseman.’ I’ll lead them and show them how to do it properly. I feel like I’m more patient, and I show them how to do something, instead of just criticizing.”
As far as commanding respect from the young men on the roster, Honeycutt believes she is effective by tailoring her approach.
“I think it is because I’m a senior, but also because I lead by example,” she said. “I’m also a lot nicer than the other captains. They will just yell at you if you do something wrong. Boys’ hockey is very different than girls’ hockey. Boys will just yell at each other and be fine afterwards. With girls, you have to take a certain approach – give a compliment, a criticism and then another compliment. It just merges the two. You are giving constructive criticism, and it works for both girls and boys.”
As both a parent and coach to his daughter, who also scored a crucial goal in the win over Springfield, Rumsey has a unique perspective of Honeycutt’s approach and realizes making her a captain was one of the best moves he made as a new coach last year.
“She definitely acts as almost an older sibling or another coach to her,” said Rumsey. “Sometimes, it’s not easy, but everybody has a different perspective on communication. I think she has a way of talking to other females that are younger than her. She puts things in better words than, maybe, (assistant coach Jay Jaisle) or I might. They probably respond to it better.”
Honeycutt sees it the same way.
“If I want to be able to help them out in any way, I want to be able to show them that I can do it and will be able to help them,” said Honeycutt. “I just want to be able to set an example for them.”
Doing it All
In addition to playing a key role for Wissahickon in the SHSHL, Honeycutt is making a major impact in the alternate female ice hockey universe.
She will be playing at the Division II level for Liberty University next year and also plays for the elite Junior Flyers girls’ club team.
In addition, through her Puerto Rican heritage, she has earned a key spot on the national team.
She played in tournaments in Florida and Brazil and has several others planned – in Vegas, New York City, Chicago and then back to Florida -- as the team strives for a 2030 Olympic bid.
“I think (playing for Puerto Rico) really helped her out a lot,” said Rumsey.
When Honeycutt stops to think about where those pair of secondhand skates from fifth grade have gotten her – a chance to play both internationally and in college, let alone for an elite travel team and serving as an assistant captain on boys’ high school team – she admits it is not what she ever envisioned.
“Not at all,” she said. “I just started playing hockey because my brothers played hockey and I just thought it was a cool sport. I never thought I’d end up representing a country or going to college for it.”
Eyes on the Prize
In terms of her college choice, Liberty was the one and only option for Honeycutt, as the school in Lynchburg, Va., aligns with her religious and political belief system.
It was just a matter of getting on the radar of the head coach, Rena Leone.
“I saw Liberty had a prospect camp,” said Honeycutt. “I already knew I wanted to go to Liberty. It’s a gorgeous school. It has what I want. I decided to go and see how it is. I went, and the coach really liked me and liked how I played. That was last April, and she offered me a spot right there.”
Rumsey has zero doubts that Honeycutt will be as much of a positive addition to Liberty’s program as she is to Wissahickon.
“I would say (to Leone) that Sabrina, as good and talented as she is, remains a student of the game who takes all types of advice and criticism constructively,” he said. “You are getting a player who has ton of both experience and leadership and is great to have in the locker room. For those reasons, she is going to be a huge asset in college.
“I think she is very regimented. She is super determined. She has a process for everything she has done in her life. She will do anything you ask her to do.”
Taking Flight
Honeycutt's interests don't begin and end with ice hockey. She gained an interest in flying planes after seeing the movie “Top Gun Maverick” and pursued it from there, attending the AMI Flight Academy sponsored by the Air Force in California last summer and earning her mandatory 15 ½ hours for a junior license.
Honeycutt, who takes all honors classes at Wissahickon, is either going to major in aviation or cyber/national security at Liberty.
After that, she wouldn’t rule out marching in the footsteps of her father and grandfather, Eddie Honeycutt, and serving her country in either the Air Force or the Navy.
“My dad was in the Navy and my grandfather was in the Army,” said Honeycutt. “I live in a free country, and I feel like I want to do something to keep it that way and do my part.”
Finding Time
Honeycutt is a busy young lady with a busy schedule, playing for Wissahickon and the Junior Flyers, not to mention Team Puerto Rico in international tournaments.
Wissahickon’s games are generally on weeknights in the middle of the week and the Junior Flyers play on weekends up and down the Eastern Seaboard.
Both Wissahickon and the Junior Flyers practice on Mondays, though, which makes for a juggling act.
Honeycutt finds herself practicing with Wissahickon in the early evening in Hatfield and then driving to Ice Line in West Chester to practice with the Junior Flyers later in the night and then making the trek back home.
Rumsey believes her hard work hard and dedication continues to pay dividends.
“She is in with a really good club team with the Junior Flyers,” said Rumsey, who also coaches the Lady Patriots out of Hatfield. “I think she has just matured with them. She’s a hard worker and gets a ton of respect. She has a different perspective on all types of play.”
When she puts all the pieces of her overall ice hockey experience together, Honeycutt has no complaints about how they have fallen into place.
“High school is so male-dominated,” said the fan of Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and Guns N’ Roses. “I think, and all my friends also think, that it’s really cool that I have the opportunity to play with (boys) and keep up with them. Also being a leader on the team, it’s a real opportunity for me.”
Sibling Chivalry
Looking back on her overall journey, Honeycutt knows she did not get where she is alone. While she wanted to thank her coaches and teammates over years, she is most grateful for her immediate family.
“My parents have funded everything since I started playing, which is a blessing,” she said. “My brothers inspired me to play.”
Hudson Honeycutt now plays for Duquesne in Pittsburgh. Although they are both natural centers, she and Logan often play on the same line and they have each other’s backs on the ice.
“It’s great,” she said. “If I get hit, I know he will make them pay. Same thing for me, I’ll lay somebody out.”
Overall, the sibling teammates would love nothing more than to end the season strong and earn an invite to the Flyers Cup tournament.
“We are doing really well this year, and I’m pretty proud of that,” said Honeycutt. “We work well as a team. Even when we don’t have all the bodies we need, we find a way to push through it.
“We want to make the Flyers Cup this year. It’s looking likely, but we still have a few more games to determine that.”
