CORTLAND - Growing up, Janie Byrd's three brothers never tried to protect her, at least on the ice.

Without them pushing her, Byrd wouldn't have made club teams, national teams or perhaps even picked up a pair of skates or a stick at all.

Now the Auburn native is a SUNY Cortland women's hockey team co-captain.

“I've been playing with boys pretty much my whole career,” Byrd said. “If I hadn't played with (my brothers) I wouldn't have been as competitive as I am now.”

That toughness has earned Byrd much admiration from her Red Dragon teammates, as the defenseman was voted co-captain as a sophomore. It has also landed her in the penalty box four times in just five games.

She has helped lead her team to a 2-2-1 record this young season, making the transition smooth for first-year head coach Jen Kroleski.

“Personality wise, Janie has a take-no-crap kind of attitude that she plays with and presents in the locker room,” Kroleski said. “She wasn't shy even as a first-year player. Because she was clearly more talented, girls naturally turned to her for leadership.”

The team turned in the right direction because leadership is nothing new for Byrd, who has been playing hockey for more than 14 years. Guiding a group of girls on the ice is still a relatively new experience for her considering she became the first female hockey player at Auburn High.

“Making the high school team was something I wanted to do and never thought I'd be able to do,” she said. “But playing guy's hockey, you don't make it as far. I wanted to be outstanding when I left them, so now they are just like 'Wow.'”

Making the 16-and-under U.S. National Team in 2000 will make a lot of people say ‘Wow.' That experience made her a five-time MVP on the club team, Syracuse Stars. In her last year of high school, she joined an even more competitive team, the Ithaca Shooting Stars to better prepare herself for collegiate competition.

“I didn't realize how big of a deal it was until I practiced in front of the coaches and scouts at the Olympic Training Center,” Byrd said. “Most of the girls around me had gone to prep. schools and gone to amazing teams. No one knows Auburn when you say it; it was a big deal to be someone different.”

The scouts still may not know about Auburn, but opposing defenses sure know the name Janie Byrd.

“She's just solid and consistent,” Kroleski said. “She is very offensive, rushing the puck and getting scoring chances.”

Scoreless this season, Byrd hopes to get more chances than the two goals she scored last season as a starter.

Whether it's scoring or poke checking, her brothers and her parents will always be glowing with pride when Byrd is on the ice. Her father has missed just one game while she has been at Cortland.

“I've never been able to just play hockey,” she said. “They have had the dream for me to make the Olympics and that is always something that has pushed me.”

The Olympics or playing professional hockey, though, probably aren't in the future for Byrd, who is studying health science and nutrition.

“I have a life and then I have hockey,” she said. “I've never put anything before hockey, but I can't see myself playing competitively (after college.) I would like to be a coach.”