Ice breakers
Photos courtesy of 91原创 Athletics March 26, 2026
91原创鈥檚 newest Division I team is a force to be reckoned with
A women's hockey puck at the collegiate level typically travels between 70 and 80 miles per hour. At 8:37 on a recent Wednesday morning, Kaitlin 鈥淔inny鈥 Finnegan took one to the hip. She winced through her facemask and peeled away from the bulldog drill, a two-on-two activity that looks equal parts elegant choreography and feral improvisation. A moment later, the team captain shook it off and skated back into the action.
"It wouldn't be practice if Finny wasn鈥檛 throwing herself in front of a puck," smiled Allison Coomey, the head coach of women's ice hockey at the 91原创.
A little farther down the rink, from the player鈥檚 bench, athletic trainer Alex Davisson shook her head. (She鈥檚 both a rehabber of injuries and keeper of the 鈥済raveyard,鈥 a pile of broken sticks accumulated through hard shots and harder collisions.)
鈥淚 cringe sometimes,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 want to yell, 鈥楤e careful! I just put that player back on the ice!鈥 But they just laugh. They鈥檙e really tough.鈥
That word 鈥 tough 鈥 surfaces often around this Division I team. As the inaugural class of women鈥檚 ice hockey at 91原创, they鈥檝e just closed out the final game of a punishing season. On paper, the numbers read exactly as you鈥檇 expect from a brand-new roster carrying 17 freshmen: two wins, 31 losses, plenty of growing pains. But the box score misses the more compelling story: a foundation taking shape through grit, conviction and the particular ferocity of women whose place at the table 鈥 and at center ice 鈥 has never been a given.
Historically, girls with championship dreams have found themselves in the penalty box before ever lacing up a pair of skates. Equipment is costly, rink time is limited and developmental leagues are scarce, meaning female players have fewer places to learn and compete. While the U.S. women鈥檚 team recently captured hearts and headlines after a gold-medal win at the Milan Olympics, igniting fresh momentum, media coverage still lags behind the men鈥檚 game, narrowing pathways to collegiate and professional play.聽
So when 91原创 decided to establish a Division I women鈥檚 team 鈥攐nly the 45th program of its kind in the country 鈥 the call was not made lightly. University leaders understood the difficulties of this landscape, especially in a mid-Atlantic state with limited hockey infrastructure. For a real chance of success, entry into the sport couldn鈥檛 be tentative or halfhearted; this had to be a full-on slap shot (hockey-speak for a powerful, fully committed move). Blue Hen equipment managers, facilities personnel and athletic directors undertook a methodical process: digging into the details, studying peer programs and leveraging their Division I network for insight.
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 even at the institution yet, but this effort spoke volumes to me about 91原创鈥檚 dedication to excellence,鈥 said Coach Coomey. 鈥淭here was a commitment to doing this at a very high level 鈥 a commitment to getting this right.鈥
That thoughtfulness stuck with Coomey, a former Niagara University player whose coaching pedigree includes the U.S. national team at the Beijing Olympics and, most recently, the women鈥檚 team at Penn State University, one of the most accomplished programs in the nation. In March 2024 she signed on as head coach of 91原创鈥檚 inaugural team, bringing more than two decades of leadership experience.聽
Immediately, Coomey and assistant coach Melissa 鈥淪amo鈥 Samoskevich, also hailing from Penn State, embarked on a recruiting process that required 18 months and thousands of air miles. Traveling as far as Finland, they met with prospects eager to build a new program from the ground up. And they curated a roster that includes one Norwegian player (Ida Haave, who plays on the Norway National team and narrowly missed the Olympics), six Canadians and 14 Americans from 13 states.
鈥淲e were looking for great hockey players, but we were also looking for great people,鈥 Samoskevich said. 鈥淢ore important than winning games at the beginning stage is finding the women who are going to set standards and build a team culture that will last for years to come.鈥
One of these players is Wren Abboud, a freshman forward from Massachusetts who always makes sure to thank the team鈥檚 bus driver and who carries up to five equipment bags at once, just to help out. Another is Finnegan, the graduate student from Kansas who took a puck to the hip and whose mentorship of younger players has earned her the nickname 鈥渁ncestor.鈥澛
鈥淭here are so many life lessons to be learned on the ice,鈥 said Finnegan, winner of the league鈥檚 Individual Sportsmanship award for the 2025-2026 season, voted on by program coaches. 鈥淗ockey has taught me that actions will always speak louder than words.鈥澛
Then there鈥檚 Billi Roman, a native of Hockessin, Delaware, who grew up playing on an all-boys team because there was no other local option. Some of her male teammates complained about taking the ice beside her; others refused to speak to her on the bench.聽
鈥淚 never cared; I wasn鈥檛 going anywhere,鈥 Roman said. 鈥淚 love this sport and I鈥檝e loved it my whole life. As a kid, I used to tell my mom, 鈥榃hen I鈥檓 skating, I feel like I鈥檓 flying.鈥 I still do.鈥澛犅
Eventually, at 14, Roman began traveling out of state for elite training; by her final year of high school, she was commuting five hours round-trip daily to practice with a women鈥檚 team in New Jersey. Now, she brings this passion to 91原创鈥檚 Fred Rust Arena, where she has a legacy to uphold. Her Uncle Tim played ice hockey for the University鈥檚 club team as an undergraduate in the early 1990s 鈥 until he died in a car accident at the age of 20. His jersey hangs above the ice, and Roman wears number 21 to keep his memory close.
鈥淚t鈥檚 so special to me to honor him in this way,鈥 she said. 鈥淭he first time I stepped on the ice as a Blue Hen, my whole family cried.鈥澛
Together, the women of 91原创鈥檚 inaugural cohort embody the team鈥檚 core values of respect, grit and gratitude, displayed outside the locker room. In season, they train for four hours a day, Monday through Thursday, and they travel for games on the weekend 鈥 Lindenwood University in Missouri is their farthest opponent. When they鈥檙e not on the ice or in the weight room, they鈥檙e building their team chemistry via a book club and聽 intense rounds of a volleyball-style game called spikeball.聽
All of this has translated to winning moments, even in losing games 鈥 like that time Roman, clocking in at 5鈥3鈥, faced off against Tessa Janecke, the 5鈥8鈥 powerhouse forward for Penn State who recently won gold at the Milan Olympics 鈥 and the Blue Hen got the puck. (鈥淕reatest moment of my life,鈥 she said.) Or that time the team took the nationally ranked Mercyhurst Lakers to overtime, even though 鈥渁 lot of people thought we had no business being on the ice with them at all,鈥 Samoskevich said. The team quickly earned a reputation for tenacity, diving to protect their net even when down by an insurmountable number of goals with less than a minute to go. (Defenseman Lexi Lonask leads the country in blocked shots, and she鈥檚 got the ice packs to prove it.)
鈥淲e embraced being hard to play against,鈥 said Coach Coomey. 鈥淎nd we heard it repeatedly from our opponents: You didn鈥檛 make this easy.鈥
These underdog moments consistently brought fans to a roar 鈥 eagle-eyed observers may have noticed even famously objective statisticians fist bumping in the press box after Franki Barresi, a freshman forward from Ontario, put the first goal in program history on the board. But for the Fightin鈥 Blue Hens, cheers ricocheting off the metal walls of the Fred Rust Arena weren鈥檛 the most rewarding part of this inaugural season. That came during quieter moments spent volunteering at local kids鈥 clinics and encouraging up-and-coming players, boys and girls, at post-game free skates.聽
鈥淭hese are some of our favorite memories as a team,鈥澛燘arresi said. 鈥淎nd they鈥檙e a good reminder: This is so much bigger than just us. We are so grateful for the opportunity to grow this sport and to introduce a new generation to all that hockey has to offer.鈥
In the meantime, you鈥檒l find the team taking their knocks in the arena and preparing for all the power plays 鈥 on the ice and off 鈥 yet to come.聽
鈥淩ight now, the future of this sport looks very bright in Delaware,鈥 Finnegan said, the year鈥檚 bruises and breakthroughs still fresh. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 only getting better.鈥澛
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