LIU Sharks women's ice hockey

LIU Sharks women's ice hockey
UniversityLong Island University
ConferenceNEWHA
Head coachKelly Nash
ArenaIslanders Iceworks
Northwell Health Ice Center
Brookville, New York
ColorsBlue and Gold
   
NCAA tournament appearances
2023
Conference tournament champions
2020, 2023
Conference regular season champions
2023, 2024, 2025

The LIU Sharks women's ice hockey team represents Long Island University in NCAA Division I ice hockey competition as a member of the New England Women's Hockey Alliance (NEWHA). They play their home games at Islanders Iceworks in Syosset, New York and Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow, New York.

History

Long Island University announced the addition of women's ice hockey as a varsity sport in September 2018 along with the naming of Rob Morgan as the inaugural head coach. [1][2] Soon after, the university announced a consolidation of the LIU Post Pioneers with the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds to form one Division I athletic program at the university's Brooklyn campus.[3][4] The current LIU program now competes as the LIU Sharks, with the new nickname having been selected by polling of alumni and students of the two campuses.[5]

On September 26, 2018, LIU joined Division I Sacred Heart as well as Division II programs Franklin Pierce University, Post University, Saint Anselm College, and Saint Michael's College in the formation of the NEWHA conference. LIU becoming the sixth member of the organization allowed the NEWHA to transition from a scheduling affiliation to an NCAA hockey-only conference eligible for an autobid to the NCAA women's ice hockey tournament.[6]

The team began competition in September 2019 to become the first, and only, women's NCAA ice hockey team on Long Island with 21 freshmen, one sophomore, and one junior.[7][8] The Sharks played in their first exhibition game against the Metropolitan Riveters of the National Women's Hockey League on September 28.[8] LIU's officially opened their inaugural season with the team's first NCAA games on October 4 and 5 versus the UConn Huskies, losing both contests by scores of 0-4 and 1–6.[8] On October 19, 2019, LIU hosted top-ranked Wisconsin at Nassau Coliseum.[9] LIU recorded its first victory on November 1, 2019 on the road at Saint Michael's with a 5–2 win; the game was also the Sharks' first conference game of the inaugural season.[10] The Sharks finished the regular season 4th in the NEWHA with an 11–10–0 conference record.[11] The Sharks upset top-seeded Sacred Heart in the semifinal round of the conference championship with a 3–0 win.[12] In the NEWHA Championship game, the Sharks faced Saint Anselm in the Championship game after the Hawks defeated Franklin Pierce in a record-breaking five-overtime game.[13] The Sharks scored the lone goal of the contest in the 2nd period then held on for 1–0 victory to earn the program's first conference tournament championship.[14]

During the 2022–23 season, LIU posted an overall record of 20–13–3 and finished first in the conference with a record of 17–4–3. They won the NEWHA tournament to receive their first bid to the NCAA women's ice hockey tournament.[15]

In 2024, Tindra Holm became the first player in conference history to win back-to-back NEWHA Goaltender of the Year Awards.[16] During the 2023-24 season, the Sharks gained a program record 26 wins, highlighted by finishing the regular season on a 12 game winning streak.[17]

Season-by-season results

Won Championship Lost Championship Conference Champions League Leader
Year Coach W L T Conference Conf.
W		 Conf.
L		 Conf.
T		 Finish Conference Tournament NCAA Tournament
2025-26 Kelly Nash 18 17 1 NEWHA 16 11 1 5th Lost First Round vs Stonehill (0-3, 3-4 OT)
2024-25 Kelly Nash 22 11 4 NEWHA 19 6 3 1st Won First Round vs Saint Michael's (4-0, 2-0), Won Semifinals vs Post (2-0), Lost Finals vs Sacred Heart (2-4)
2023-24 Kelly Nash 28 9 0 NEWHA 26 2 0 1st Won First Round vs Saint Michael's (3-2, 3-0), Lost Semifinals vs Franklin Pierce (3-4 OT)
2022–23 Kelly Nash 20 13 3 NEWHA 17 4 3 1st Won Semifinals vs. Franklin Pierce (2–1) (OT)
Won Championship vs. Saint Anselm (2–0) 		Lost First Round vs. Wisconsin (1–9)
2021–22 Rob Morgan 17 15 3 NEWHA 15 3 2 2nd Lost Semifinals vs. St. Anselm (1–3) Ineligible
2020–21 Rob Morgan 5 8 0 NEWHA — — — — Not held due to COVID-19 pandemic
2019–20 Rob Morgan 14 18 0 NEWHA 11 10 0 4th Won Quarterfinals vs Saint Michael's (7–0)
Won Semifinals vs. Sacred Heart (3–0)
Won Championship vs. St. Anselm (1–0)

Awards and Honors

NEWHA Awards

  • Kelly Nash, 2025 NEWHA Coach of the Year [19]

NEWHA Monthly Honors

  • Grace Babington, NEWHA Player of the Month (January 2026) [20]
  • Addison Robillard, NEWHA Player of the Month (January 2026)
  • Victoria Rutnik, NEWHA Goaltender of the Month (January 2026)

NEWHA All-Rookie

  • Addison Robillard, 2026 NEWHA All-Rookie Team[21]

NEWHA All-Stars

  • Jeannie Wallner, 2023 NEWHA First Team All-Star
  • Carrigan Umpherville, 2023 NEWHA Second Team All-Star
  • Grace Babington, 2025 NEWHA First Team All-Star[19]
  • Anna Fairman, 2025 NEWHA First Team All-Stars
  • Jeannie Wallner, 2025 NEWHA First Team All-Stars
  • Grace Babington, 2026 NEWHA First Team All-Star

[21]

All-Sportswomanship

  • Sarah Rourke, 2023 NEWHA All-Sportswomanship Team [18]
  • Sarah Rourke, 2024 NEWHA All-Sportswomanship Team [16]
  • Sam Mathe, 2025 NEWHA All-Sportswomanship Team [19]
  • Ryane Kearns, 2026 NEWHA All-Sportswomanship Team[21]

NEWHA Postseason

  • Grace Babington, 2025 NEWHA All-Tournament Team [22]
  • Maggie Culp, 2025 NEWHA All-Tournament Team [22]

Olympians

See also

References

  1. ^ "LIU laying the groundwork ahead of its inaugural season". SBNation. September 4, 2019. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  2. ^ "LIU Adds Women's Ice Hockey, Rob Morgan Named Head Coach". NCAA. September 18, 2018. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  3. ^ "LIU combining Post and Brooklyn athletic programs". Newsday. October 3, 2018. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  4. ^ "#OneLIU website". Long Island University. Archived from the original on August 21, 2019. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  5. ^ "Welcome to the Shark Tank: Long Island University Chooses the Shark as New Mascot" (Press release). Long Island University. May 15, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  6. ^ Haase, Nicole (January 10, 2019). "Women's D-I: Morgan building new program at LIU-Brooklyn, looks for quick success". USCHO. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  7. ^ Simeone, Gary. "LIU Post makes history with first girls ice hockey team". Syosset Advance. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  8. ^ a b c DeJohn, Kenny (October 26, 2019). "LIU breaks the ice with Long Island's first Division I women's hockey team". Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  9. ^ Ye, Ryan (October 21, 2019). "A Nassau Coliseum first: Division I Women's College Hockey". L.I. Herald. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  10. ^ Haase, Nicole (November 7, 2019). "Women's DI: LIU earns program's first win, takes steps to end up great". USCHO. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  11. ^ "NEWHA Women's Conference Standings: 2019-2020". USCHO. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  12. ^ "LIU 3, Sacred Heart 0". USCHO. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  13. ^ Staff (February 23, 2020). "One night after winning longest game, Saint Anselm women fall". The Union Leader. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  14. ^ "CHAMPIONS! Women's Ice Hockey Defeats Saint Anselm, 1-0 to Capture NEWHA Championship". LIU Sharks. Long Island University Athletics. February 22, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  15. ^ "ICE DANCING! Women's Hockey Earns NEWHA's First-Ever NCAA Bid". LIU Sharks. Long Island University Athletics. March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  16. ^ a b c "NEWHA releases major end of season awards, All-League teams". NEWHA Online. February 23, 2024. Retrieved February 20, 2026. Cite error: The named reference "2024 NEWHA Awards" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  17. ^ Singh, Jonathan (February 17, 2024). "Mikayla Lantto's Overtime Goal lifts LIU to 3-2 Win on Senior Day". LIU Athletics. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
  18. ^ a b c "NEWHA releases major end of season awards, All-League teams". NEWHA Online. February 24, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
  19. ^ a b c "NEWHA releases 2024-25 major end of season awards, All-League teams". NEWHA Online. February 27, 2025. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
  20. ^ "TSR NEWHA Players of the Month". NEWHA. February 4, 2025. Retrieved February 16, 2026.
  21. ^ a b c "NEWHA Releases 2025-26 Major Awards, All League Teams". newhaonline.com. March 5, 2026. Retrieved March 6, 2026.
  22. ^ a b "2025 NEWHA Tournament". NEWHA Online. March 8, 2025. Retrieved February 21, 2026.
  23. ^ "Going for Gold! Bergstrom picked forTeam Sweden's Olympic roster". LIU Athletics. January 26, 2022. Retrieved February 21, 2026.
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