Holy Cross Crusaders women's ice hockey

History

Holy Cross women's ice hockey became a varsity sport in 1999, following ten years as a club program and two years as a semi-varsity team. The Crusaders initially competed in the ECAC East conference, which later became the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC). Jane Ford, formerly the director of telecommunications for Holy Cross, served as head coach for the inaugural season. Peter VanBuskirk took over as head coach for the 2000–01 season, having previously coached the Holy Cross men's ice hockey team for ten years; he led the women's team for nineteen seasons.

In the 2008–09 season, Holy Cross finished first in their conference with a 24–2–1 record and won the ECAC Open Championship by defeating Sacred Heart 4–2. The program earned six post-season titles while in the ECAC East/NEHC: 2003, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015, and 2016. After two years of discussions, Holy Cross joined Hockey East for the 2018–19 season as the tenth member.

The Crusaders earned their first Hockey East win on November 30, 2018, a 5–3 victory over Northeastern at the Hart Center; freshman goaltender Jada Brenon made 34 saves. VanBuskirk retired after the 2018–19 season with a record of 295–178–35 and was elected an honorary member of the Holy Cross Athletic Hall of Fame in 2020. Katie Lachapelle, previously associate head coach for two years, became head coach in 2019–20.

She had been an assistant coach at Boston University for nine seasons and also at Ohio State, Niagara, and Union; she played at Providence College, serving as captain in her senior year and earning ECAC All Star Team honors in 1997. In May 2020, Lachapelle was named head coach of the United States women's national under-18 ice hockey team; the IIHF later canceled the 2021 U-18 Women's World Championships scheduled for January 2021. Meredith Roth joined the Crusaders as associate coach in 2019 after serving as head coach at St. Norbert's College in Division III. Devan Taylor joined as assistant coach in 2020.

Did You Know?

• Stacey Hochkins, a forward, is the program's all-time leader in goals, assists, points, game-winning goals, power play goals and shorthanded goals.
• Stacey Hochkins was inducted into the Holy Cross Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 2019.