2022-23 Women’s Hockey Season Preview
10/21/2022
The Brown women’s hockey team is set to drop the puck on its 2022-23 season on Friday evening with its first-ever matchup against Stonehill. The Bears will face the Skyhawks at Meehan Auditorium at 6 p.m. on Friday, before capping off the home-and-home series on the road on Saturday at 5 p.m.
The Bears are slated for 29 games, including 14 at Meehan Auditorium and 22 against ECAC Hockey opponents.
Second year head coach Melanie Ruzzi helped to turn the trajectory of the Bears’ program last season, her first season as a collegiate head coach, with her efforts earning her a finalist for ECAC Coach for the Year. She helped guide the Bears to their best overall record since the 2016-17 season, and their most ECAC wins since the 2008-09 season, giving them their highest finish in the ECAC standings in a decade. The team made significant strides forward throughout the season, posting a 4-2-3 record over its final nine games, which included a pair of wins over nationally ranked opponents in No. 7 Yale and on the road at No. 9 Quinnipiac.
“This year is really all about controllables,” said Ruzzi. “Our approach doesn’t drastically change from last year. Our values are our values and a big part of that identity is grit. We will play physical, fast and aggressive, which is a fun way to play hockey. You start all over and in terms of teaching and rewarding those foundational standards, but beyond that I’d like to solidify our identity instead of altering it.”
Captains
The Bears will be served by two captains and two alternate captains this season. Senior Madie Stockfish, who served as an alternate captain last season will wear the C this year, along with junior Sonja Bjornson. Sophomores Meadow Carman and Kaley Doyle will both serve as alternate captains.
“It’s a really different structure from what we had last year,” said Ruzzi. “The leadership group of eight women we had over the summer have been great communicators. There are no egos here. While we have two C’s and two A’s, they’re a really collaborative group and making sure they getting everyone on the same page, and I think they complement each other very well. They are all very high-energy and positive. They’ve got to lead by example, but I think you’re going to see leadership by committee in many ways from this group.”
Forwards
At forward, Brown will look to fill the void left by the two leading point-scorers from last season in captain Shay Maloney (11 goals, 8 assists) and Megan Forrest (5 goals, 10 assists).
Sophomore Anna Hurd and senior Madie Stockfish are the team’s leading returning scorers from last season. Junior Maya Mangiafico tallied 12 points (5 goals, 7 assists) and sophomore Anna Gallagher notched 10 points in her first collegiate season.
Joining them up front will be freshmen Maddie Morgan, Jade Iginla and India McDadi, and Penn State junior transfer Jess Ciarrocchi.
“There has certainly been some growth internally in regards to our returning players,” said Ruzzi. “I think they are a hard-working group that trains hard and attacks their skill sets. We have a nice crop of returning players up front. We certainly feel good about the new players coming in that will be able to contribute on the offensive side from the beginning. We did graduate some players who had played important roles, and I’ve said this many times, that freshman do not immediately replace seniors. Our returners are the ones who have to step forward and fill in those slots that those seniors were in. But I do think we have some special talent in the freshman class.”
Defense
On defense, Brown loses only one senior from last year’s squad and returns six players to the blue line. Top liners sophomore Cameron Sikich and junior Cassidy Piersiak both tallied seven assists last season, while Carman and Bjornson are also among the defensive returners. Incoming freshman Ellie Gauvin will join the fold for the Bears.
“We need those players to take a step forward and I thought they showed tremendous growth last year from the first semester to the second semester in terms of moving and getting to the puck more quickly, defending, and being more physical,” said Ruzzi. “I’d like to see them make a jump this year and I think Ellie coming in will be able to seamlessly join that unit and raise our level of play. My hope is that we can just keep building on that foundation we established last year.”
Goaltending
In goal, Brown returns All-ECAC Second Team honoree Kaley Doyle. She ranked third in the ECAC with a .940 save pct. in conference games and led all ECAC rookie netminders with six victories. Overall, she held a 2.12 GAA and .932 save pct., which sat fifth in the ECAC.
She will be joined in goal by freshman Mégane Pilon.
“Doyle is an absolute leader,” said Ruzzi. “I would expect her to be more of what we saw last year. She’ll have a bit of a heavier workload this year because last year her and Hayley Kliczko shared the net. At the other end, we have Mégane who is a fantastic goaltender and she can also be part of a two-headed monster in goal for us. I can see her playing some games early on and getting some experience, and able to step in down the stretch when we need her.”
“We had a group of eight women on a leadership team all summer,” Ruzzi said. “We had conversations with them about what they wanted from this program going forward and there is a much higher standard. I think when you start to have some success, your expectations become higher. They are really focusing on what our standards are and what we are being held accountable to. The way they practice and prepare for games and take care of themselves is at a much higher level right now.”
