Playing hockey is all in the family for Kara Thompson.

Thompson, a freshman forward from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, has been playing hockey since the sixth grade with her whole family being involved in the game.

So how did Thompson, who is making big contributions on the ISU women’s hockey club, end up at Iowa State?

“My parents went here so they wanted me to look at the campus,” Thompson said. “I’m currently a biology major and they have an awesome science program here. I got a little bit of financial aid which helps.”

One way that Thompson is lifting the Cyclones to a overall record of 13-9-1 is her scoring.

She has 35 goals this year, a women’s hockey team record for most goals in a season. Thompson, however, didn’t expect to score that many goals this early in her Cyclone career.

“There’s no way that I thought I could score 35 goals,” Thompson said. “I thought that I could score a goal a game.”

ISU assistant coach Kevin Rout liked what he saw in Thompson since the first day of practice.

“I heard that she was coming in and I heard that she was from Canada, which is always a plus,” Rout said. “Once I saw her skate, I knew that she would be our number one offensive player.”

ISU teammate Katie Dunn has provided a majority of the assists to Thompson and said Thompson is an amazing player.

“She’s by far our best asset on our team, not simply because she just scores goals, but because she passes well,” Dunn said. “Pretty much all around, she can do anything you want her to do. As she gets older, you can only expect her to get better.”

Another of Thompson’s accomplishments came on Feb. 2 when the Cyclones faced St. Scholastica College. In the first period Thompson tallied a goal in nine seconds, the fastest goal ever recorded in the six-year history of ISU women’s hockey.

Thompson said the rest of the team is the reason for her success.

“If she’s having an off game, it’s because everyone is having an off game. She can’t do it alone,” Rout said. “I think she enjoys playing hockey a lot…She’s getting all the ice time that she can handle, which makes any skater better.”