BROOKVILLE, N.Y.- Not only is the Long Island University women's ice hockey team preparing for its inaugural season opener this weekend against UConn, but they are also preparing to make history as the first Division I ice hockey program on Long Island.
 
"It is an incredibly exciting time for LIU to bring NCAA Division I women's ice hockey to the communities of Long Island," said head coach Rob Morgan. "Our focus has been on building our culture, team identity and positive game habits. Certainly, it's a process that we need to go through, and as much as we'd like to expedite things, we need to be patient as development both individually and collectively takes time. We are excited to play this historical game against UConn, they are a strong, well coached team that is always in the playoff hunt with Hockey East."
 
LIU vs. UCONN
When: Friday, October 4
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Where: Ice Works
Video | Live Stats
 
LIU vs. UCONN
When: October 5
Time: 7:45 p.m.
Where: Ice Works
Video | Live Stats
 
The Coaches
Head coach Rob Morgan will lead the inaugural Division I Sharks ice hockey team. Most recently Morgan spent time in China developing professional women's ice hockey and was head coach of the Vanke Rays, a professional women's ice hockey club team. Morgan is no stranger to Division I women's ice hockey as he spent six years as associate head coach with Dartmouth and two years as associate head coach at Yale. Morgan also spent five years as head coach at Division III St. Norbert's.   
 
Joining Morgan are his two assistants Sam Faber and Nicole Renault. Faber joins the Sharks after serving as team captain for the Connecticut Whale, one of the four founding teams in the first professional women's hockey league in North America. Faber played Division I ice hockey at the University of New Hampshire. Renault comes to the Sharks after spending the last two years as assistant coach at Division III Nichols College. Renault also has playing experience at the Division I level as she played at Syracuse. 
 
The Leadership Group  
Coach Morgan announced the leadership group of the 2019 Sharks last week. The leadership group will be made up of three captains and three alternates. The captains of the team are Alva Johnsson, Morgan Schauer, and Matilda af Bjur. The alternates are Paula Bergström, Grace Dima, and Linn Thomsen.   
 
Notes on the Sharks
The inaugural roster will be made up of 23 players who come to the Sharks from all over the world. 12 of the players are from the United States, while six are from Canada, four are from Europe, and one is from Asia.
Forward Stella Scott comes to LIU from Carbondale, Coloroado. She played four years of hockey at Basalt High School and also played for the North American Hockey Academy, one of the top 10 teams in the country. Joining the team from Englewood, Colorado is Lauren Spino. Spino, a defender, also played at the North American Hockey Academy. Carrigan Umpherville comes to Long Island from Cross Lake, Manitoba. The forward played for the Pilot Mound Buffaloes and was the leading scorer for the female varsity division of the Canadian sport. Linn Thomsen is a defender from Hvidovre, Denmark. She played for the Denmark Women's National Team and U18 Team where she won a silver medal in 2016-17.

Click here to meet the rest of the team.
 
Schedule
The Sharks will open up the inaugural season with a weekend series against Big East member, the University of Connecticut, on Friday October 4 and Saturday October 5. Both games will be at Iceworks in Syosset, N.Y. Game time on Friday afternoon is 3:00 p.m. and on Saturday is 7:45 p.m.

Click Here for the full 2019-20 Schedule
 
Scouting the Huskies
UConn opens up their 2019-20 regular season slate this weekend. The Huskies played two exhibition games last weekend, first defeating Ryerson University 5-1 followed by a 4-1 victory over the Connecticut Whale. The Huskies have seven newcomers who join 17 returners. UConn finished last season seventh in the Hockey East Conference and made it to the playoffs for the seventh year in a row. Ahead of this season, UConn was picked to finish sixth in the Hockey East Coaches' Preseason Poll. Junior Natalie Snodgrass returns for her third season and earned a spot on the USA Hockey Women's Select Team earlier this summer. The forward led the team with 15 goals and 14 assists a season ago, and finished with nine multi-point games and four multi-goal games.
 
Up Next
After a week of rest the Sharks will welcome reigning NCAA Division I National Champions, the University of Wisconsin Badgers to Long Island. LIU will host Wisconsin for back-to-back games starting on Friday, October 18 at Iceworks with puck drop at 3:00 p.m.