The difference between Leah Bosch making 50 saves and 15 saves in a game is a stick of gum. 

That’s not a metaphor or a trope. In her own words, Bosch says that to be firing on all cylinders between the pipes, she needs that extra piece. 

“I need to be chewing gum during the game,” Bosch said on Saturday afternoon, sitting in the bleachers of the Minnetonka Ice Arena.

“That doesn’t sound too strange, right?” she continues before dropping the hammer. 

“I need to chew five pieces or more at the same time. It keeps my mouth busy.”

Could she get by with just four pieces?

“I would be so off with only four,” Bosch replies, sincerely and emphatically. 

The Hopkins/Park senior netminder has enjoyed a statistically impressive career in four seasons for the Royals. This season, her save percentage is at an all-time high at .929 going into Saturday’s game against Buffalo. She ranks among the state’s top-20 goalies in that category, is ninth in shots faced, and has played well over 1,000 minutes for the third time in four years. 

Against the Bison, on Senior Day, Bosch surpassed 3,000 career saves, a fitting marker for measuring just how long, and how short, a high school hockey career can feel. 

“They were putting up the jerseys (for Senior Day), and I was like ‘oh, I’m a senior.’” Bosch said with a laugh. “This whole high school hockey season has been really fun, and I’ve met a lot of people and played games other goalies really can’t say that they get to experience because I get a lot of shots.”

Shots typically mean goals, and goals can be hard to come by for the Royals - just like wins. 

In four seasons, Bosch has totaled 21 victories (so far), a number that a handful of goalies around the state surpass every season. 

Early in her career, Bosch said that she let her record haunt her thoughts. Now, she’s learned to appreciate her situation for what it is. 

“When I was young, I would very much get frustrated over not winning or not playing well,” Bosch said. “Now, I just roll with it. Hockey’s fun, and I have fun playing.”

Talented goaltenders leaving struggling programs, or even average ones, is commonplace in Minnesota high school hockey. Goalies don’t enjoy losing, even if the losses go hand-in-hand with shots faced and experience gained. 

While a couple of opposing players have made vague and wishful overtures over the years, Bosch has never considered abandoning her Royals. 

“I love playing here,” Bosch said. “I love getting so many shots. That’s why I’m a goalie. I love playing, and I love getting shots. I’ve never thought about switching schools.”

Bosch intends to play hockey and lacrosse upon graduation, and will do so at whichever institution will have her. 

“Either Division I or Division III,” Bosch said. “I literally wouldn’t care. I just want to play.”

Wherever she continues her career, Bosch will bring quiet, serious competitiveness that practically radiates from her crease. 

She will also add remarkably mature perspective to her next locker room, stemming from her growth as a goaltender and person over the last four seasons. 

“I came to the realization that I really like playing hockey, and I’m like, well, it’s kind of dumb to get so upset over playing (poorly),” Bosch explained. 

“Obviously, I want to do well. But, at the end of the day, I got to go on the ice, which is still great.”