On Halloween, Becker College sports fans were treated to history being made when the puck dropped for the first game of Becker College’s first women’s ice hockey team.

Joining schools like Amherst College and Connecticut College, Becker College will have a hockey team just for women and join a movement of progressive and opportunity-based sports programs. But Becker College hasn’t been oblivious to the positive impact of having sports teams that cater to both sexes. It already has eight sports teams for women, including basketball, field hockey, softball and soccer. After eight years of a successful men’s ice hockey program, it was finally time to introduce a women’s hockey team.

“Becker wants to compete with the best institutions, and women’s ice hockey gives us another opportunity to attract quality female student athletes,” said Becker College Athletic Director Frank Millerick.

Becker College’s women’s ice hockey team will compete on the NCAA Division III level, against opponents such as Amherst and Connecticut. With such stiff competition – especially for a team just strapping up its skates for the first time – a good leader needs to be at the helm. That title has been bestowed upon Coach Eliza Kelley. Originally from Vermont, Kelley, just like her players, finds herself in a unique and new position – being the head coach of a team for the first time. Having played competitively as a forward for the women’s ice hockey team at Utica College in New York, where she helped her team make it to four consecutive ECAC Women’s West Conference Tournaments and rack up 58 victories, Kelley gained some coaching experience as an assistant coach for Utica after her playing days were over.

“I’ve always loved hockey, so when I was finished playing, I wanted to stay involved. The year after I finished playing, I was on the staff as a volunteer assistant. When the assistant there left, the players actually asked for me to join the staff as the full-time assistant head coach,” Kelley explained. “It seemed like a natural fit, and by that point, I was hooked. I loved the coaching side. Previously, I had coached a lot of youth hockey, but college hockey is what I’m really passionate about.”

That experience will prove vital for Becker’s inaugural women’s hockey season. As Millerick pointed out, the team couldn’t be in better hands.

“Liza emerged as the strongest candidate throughout the search process, [and] she came highly recommended from the folks at Utica,” Millerick said. “We met weekly to ensure that we were dotting our ‘I’s’ and crossing our ‘T’s’ as we prepared to start up a program from scratch. Eliza has a tremendous work ethic, and I [am] very confident in her ability to lead this program. All of us at Becker College are excited for the start of a new era.”

Millerick has such faith in Kelley and her staff that he believes the sky is the limit when it comes to what Becker’s women’s ice hockey team is capable of this season.

“We expect to be competitive in our league right from the get-go,” said Millerick. “Eliza has worked hard to recruit these talented women, and I think she would agree with me that we will be in the hunt for our conference championship.”

Kelley does indeed echo that same sentiment, with an emphasis on the team’s growth.

“My hope is that we will compete for a Colonial Hockey Conference championship,” Kelley said. “Most of what we will be doing this season is in preparation for that goal. My expectation is that we will work hard and continue to grow and develop as a team.”

Of course, to attract players and build a winning team, you first need a winning academic program to attract students. Kelley and her staff make sure that prospective students know that academics always come first.

“They are selling not only the ice hockey component, but more importantly, the opportunity to study at a terrific institution,” explained Millerick of the recruitment process. “Becker has quality academic programs, and we need to be sure that the prospective student athletes and their parents understand this and know that our job is to ensure they graduate in four years.”

For more information, including a season schedule, visit beckerhawks.com/sports/wice/index.

By Jason Savio