Yale Bulldogs women's ice hockey

Yale University women's ice hockey (YWIH) is an NCAA Division I varsity college hockey program at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

The roots of the Yale University ice hockey program date back to 1975 when the team, at first, competed as a club team. Only 2 years later the program elevated its status to be a varsity team in the 1977-78 season. That makes YWIH one of the oldest varsity women's ice hockey programs in the country.

Yale competes in the ECAC Hockey League (ECACHL), along with Ivy League foes Harvard, Princeton, Cornell, Dartmouth and Brown. Both the Yale men's and women's ice-hockey teams play at Ingalls Rink, also known as "The Whale".

Coaches
The most sucessful head coach is Hilary Witt, (she joined the Bulldogs as an assistant coach in 2001-02), who has been serving in the head coaching position since the 2002-03 season. Kimberly Mathias and Paul Nemetz-Carlson serve as associate head coach and assistant coach respectively.

Witt was named ECAC Women's Coach of the Year in 2002-03, and became Yale's all-time leader in wins in 2005. The 2004-05 squad set the school record for overall wins (16) and conference wins (12), earning a trip to the ECAC semifinals for the first time. The 2007-08 team broke the school record for goals in a season with 96 and finished with the second-most wins in school history, 15.

History


Yale University debuted its women’s ice hockey program on December 9, 1975. Its first match was versus Choate-Rosemary Hall. The Bulldogs prevailed by a 5-3 tally. Two years later, the Bulldogs hockey program would attain varsity status.

Laurie Belliveau played for Yale from 1994-1998. In four years, she participated in 98 games. Statistically, she logged 5,809 minutes, recorded 4,262 saves, and registered a .911 save percentage while posting a 4.32 goals against average. She has averaged more than 43 saves per game. In 1994-95, Belliveau became the first freshman in any sport to earn Ivy League Player of the Year honors. During the season, she made an ECAC record 78 saves in a game. The opponent was the Providence Friars womens ice hockey program.

In 1998, Laurie Belliveau was one of two Ivy League players named first team All-Americans. This was the first time that Ivy League women's hockey players were bestowed such an honor. On April 3, 2011 former Yale player Mandi Schwartz succumbed to recurrent acute myeloid leukemia at age 23. She was a forward on Yale's women's hockey team and had a string of 73 consecutive games played.

Arenas

 * Ingalls Rink (1975-present)

Head Coaches

 * Tyler Benson (1977-1982) 33-33-2
 * Peter Downey (1982-1984) 11-24-2
 * Kathy Lenahan (1984-1986) 22-17-1
 * Dave Beecher (1986-1987) 5-14-0
 * Vic Russo (1987-1989) 12-22-1
 * Bary Curseaden (1989-1992) 15-38-2
 * Joe Snecinski (1992-1997) 17-94-5
 * John Marchetti (1997-2002) 30-104-11
 * Hillary Witt (2002-2010) 96-126-23
 * Joakim Flygh (2010-2019) 77-165-28
 * Matt Bolding (2019-present) 17-15-0 as of end of 2019-20 season

International

 * Hilary Witt was a member of the U.S. Women's National Team in 2001
 * Hilary Witt also earned a pair of silver medals as an assistant coach for the U.S. at the 2006 Four Nations Cup and the 2007 IIHF World Championships.
 * Helen Resor played at the 2006 Four Nations Cup and the 2005, 2007 and 2008 IIHF World Championships.
 * Helen Resor, Crysti Howser and Sheila Zingler were at the 2007 USA Hockey Women's National Festival, meaning that the 2006-07 Yale team tied for the most representatives at the camp among all ECAC schools.

Olympians

 * Helen Resor was selected to play for Team USA in the 2006 Olympics. Resor was the first Bulldog to achieve that status, and when she won a bronze medal she became the first Yale hockey player of either gender to earn a medal since five Bulldog men won silver with Team USA in 1932.

Awards and honors

 * Laurie Belliveau, three-time Ivy League Player of the Year
 * Laurie Belliveau, Goaltender, 1996 All-ECAC Team
 * Laurie Belliveau, Nellie Pratt Elliott Award
 * Laurie Belliveau, Finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award, 1998
 * Jenna Ciotti, Hockey East Player of the Week (Week of February 8, 2011)
 * Jenna Ciotti, Hockey East Rookie of the Week (Week of February 8, 2011)
 * Alyssa Clarke, Honorable Mention All-Ivy League, 2007-08, Defenseman, Yale (Sophomore)
 * Erika Hockinson, Yale's Thomas W. Ford '42 Community Outreach Award
 * Crysti Howser, Honorable Mention All-Ivy League, 2007-08, Forward, Yale (Junior)
 * Kelsey Johnson, finalist for the inaugural ECAC Student-Athlete of the Year Award (2007)
 * Bray Ketchum, nominee for the 2010 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award
 * Helen Resor, Defense, 2009 Third Team All-ECAC
 * Helen Resor, finalist for the 2009 Patty Kazmaier Award
 * Kristin Savard, Hockey Humanitarian Award (2007)
 * Kristin Savard, Yale's Thomas W. Ford '42 Community Outreach Award
 * Jackee Snikeris, Honorable Mention All-Ivy League, 2007-08, Goaltender, (Freshman)
 * Jackee Snikeris, nominee for the 2010 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award
 * Jackee Snikeris, MLX Skates Goaltender of the Week (Week of November 30, 2010)
 * Jackee Snikeris, 2010-11 ECAC Goaltender of the Year
 * Jackee Snikeris, 2010-11 ECAC Women's Student-Athlete of the Year
 * Jackee Snikeris, 2011 Sarah Devens Award

ECAC All-Academic

 * Mandi Schwartz, 2006-07 to 2008-09
 * Jackee Snikeris, 2007-08 to 2010-11

Ivy League honors

 * Alyssa Clarke, Defense, Senior, 2010 Honorable Mention
 * Bray Ketchum, Forward, Junior, 2010 Second Team All-Ivy
 * Jackee Snikeris, Goaltender, Junior, 2010 First Team All-Ivy

New England hockey writers All-Star Team

 * 2003-04 G Sarah Love
 * 2004-05 D Erin Duggan
 * 2006-07 D Helen Resor
 * 2010-11 G Jackee Snikeris

Links

 * ECAC Women's hockey website
 * Yale Bulldogs women's ice hockey website