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25 years ago, an all-women’s ice hockey team was founded at an all-women’s college in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the first collegiate varsity women’s ice hockey team in the state. In the years since, Chatham women’s ice hockey has lived through many eras, including several head coaches and both experienced and novice teams. Women’s ice hockey was initially founded as a club sport at Chatham during President Esther Barazzone’s tenure, thanks to her enthusiasm for the sport. In 1996, the team was elevated to varsity athletic status and became a NCAA Division III team. Because they were truly in a league of their own—being the only college varsity women’s hockey team in the area—they continued to play a variety of club teams until the sport caught on more widely, which as luck would have it, happened sooner rather than later.
In 1998, women’s ice hockey was featured as a medal sport in the Japan Winter Olympics for the first time. The final matchup for gold was the United States versus Canada, and the U.S. came out on top! As a result, women’s ice hockey saw a sudden surge of interest, both nationally and internationally. To celebrate the inclusion of women’s ice hockey in the Olympics, the Chatham Cougars scrimmaged each other at half-time in a Pittsburgh Penguins versus Washington Capitals matchup at the Civic Arena. Over the last 25 years, our women’s ice hockey team has served as a place for students to grow, learn, and build a family on the ice. The Chatham women’s ice hockey team played for the first time on November 10, 1996, and on Saturday, November 13, 2021, alumni are invited to cheer on their alma mater at a very special 25th anniversary game. Below, we’ve gathered photos, fun facts, press excerpts, and thoughtful reflections from the team members, both students and alumni, who found a home on the ice with our cougars.
1999-2000 season
c/o Chatham University Archives & Special Collections
2019-2020 season
2017-2018 season
2019-2020 season
2019-2020 season
Coach Mike O'Grady, 2019-2020 season
2017-2018 season
Do you have a favorite memory or a specific game that comes to mind?
“My favorite memory is when we found out we made playoffs for the first time. We were on the bus ride back from playing Lebanon Valley and we had just won but were waiting to find out how other teams did. We got the news and the energy on the bus exploded. It was so gratifying to find out that we had made playoffs for the first time in program history. For some, we had only been there one year, but you could see for the girls who were graduating that this was important. This moment really opened the door for our program to keep making strides towards being more competitive.”
—Ashley Marchant, Senior, Current Captain, Defense
“I have so many great memories from my time playing on the women’s hockey team but the weekend that stands out to me the most is our road trip to Becker College freshman year. It ended up being our first sweep of the season and three out of the four freshman on the team (KJ Frost, Jillian Rowland, and myself) scored our first collegiate points that weekend. During the second game of the weekend, I got the assist to our winning overtime goal (scored by Kaitlyn Perrins) and several of my family members, friends, and high school coaches were there to see it in person! What made the sweep even better was that two of my former teammates played for Becker.”
—Kristina Block ‘19, Offensive Wing from 2015-2019, 2nd highest career points in program history
“My favorite memory so far is from our Elmira game last season. Due to COVID, we only had nine players for our first game against Elmira (who ended up winning our division last season). I feel like most teams would go into the game dreading the experience. Having a short bench and playing against the best team in the league is a daunting task. However, we all took it in stride and turned it into a positive experience. Even though we ended up losing, we never gave up and never let our circ*mstances get the best of us. It was probably one of my favorite games of last year because of how everyone bonded together over the predicament and used it to push us closer as a team.”
—Allie Corser-James, Sophom*ore, Offensive Wing, UCHC Rookie of the Year 2021, set program & NCAA record for her short-handed hat trick vs Lebanon Valley, this was the first time in NCAA Women's Hockey (D1 or D3) that someone scored 3 short-handed goals in 1 game.
“The first thing my mom said to me when I told her I was going to play ice hockey was, ‘You’re not going to have any teeth!’”
—Lisa Hinkelman ‘99, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 3, 1998, as told to Gretchen McKay
What have you gained from your Chatham women’s ice hockey experience?
“Outside of friendships, I gained a lot of confidence from my experience on the team. I came in as a freshman a bit unsure that I could excel at the collegiate level. The pace of the game was much faster than that of the high school and travel leagues I played in previously and it was quite a bit more physical. Even though I did have a solid set of skills, my low confidence held me back during that first semester. However, after being lifted up by my coaches and teammates, I started believing in myself more and more. By the end of my senior year, I held a few program records and was the second all-time leading scorer in program history. This confidence extended to areas outside of hockey as well. Once I started believing in myself on the ice, I also noticed that my academic performance got better. Because of this, I was able to get accepted into a master’s program at the University of Pennsylvania and am now earning my Ph.D. I don’t think I ever would have applied to Penn if I didn’t gain this confidence from being on the women’s hockey team.”
—Kristina Block ‘19
“Playing for Chatham women’s ice hockey has provided me the ability to continue to develop as an ice hockey player, the chance to meet so many fellow female athletes from a variety of places, and the opportunity to foster my leadership skills. I have gained so much and yet still have more I can learn. It truly has been a one-of-a-kind experience.”
—Ashley Marchant
“The women’s ice hockey team has given me a community at Chatham. Last year when I was a freshman, it was hard for me to find friends and a community, mainly due to COVID restrictions. However, once the hockey season started it gave me an instant group of friends and a sense of belonging to the Chatham community because of how the school supports our team.”
—Allie Corser-James
Did you know…
On March 17, 1998, Chatham Women’s Ice Hockey was awarded a proclamation in the Pittsburgh City Council chambers for being the first collegiate women’s ice hockey team in Western Pennsylvania. March 17th is not only St. Patrick’s Day—it’s also Chatham Cougars Ice Hockey Day in Pittsburgh!
Richard Hogya was the first head coach of the Chatham women’s ice hockey team. He was also a detective for the Pittsburgh Police Force.
The first Chatham women’s ice hockey team featured 16 students from 5 states.
In the years since, teams have included players from 28 U.S. states, 5 Canadian Provinces, and multiple European countries.
The team has had 8 different head coaches over the years. Our current head coach is Mike O’Grady. The longest tenure belongs to Jason Evans, who coached 159 games from 2010-2017.
The winningest team was the 2014-2015 team, who had 10 wins. They are closely followed by the 2019-2020 and 2015-2016 teams, both of which had 8 wins.
The 2019-2020 team was the first team to ever make a play-off appearance.
Current first year hockey player, Rainey Jessup is an Instagram hockey influencer who is now able to profit off her name, image, and likeness thanks to recent NCAA rule changes:
“I realized my videos were actually influential to people and that I was doing something good for the hockey community. I came to the realization that my Instagram was really helping other people and other companies are realizing that. It was really cool they wanted to work with me on that.” Read more about Rainey’s experience in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“I hope that young girls will realize that they, too, can do it, and if they practice as much as the boys, they’ll be just as good—which is great. It’s certainly the girls’ turn at the sport of ice hockey.”
—Stacy Szczukowski ‘99, MOT ‘01, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 15, 1998, as told to Gretchen McKay
Special thanks to Chatham Women’s Ice Hockey Head Coach, Mike O’Grady, alumni, and current students for sharing so much with us! Many of the above photos are courtesy of the Chatham University Archives and Special Collections, curated by Archivist, Molly Tighe. Interested alumni are invited to attend the 25th anniversary game on Saturday, November 13th @ 2:00 pm in the Pittsburgh Ice Arena. Learn more here.
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