Assumption Looks To Hit The Ground Running In First NCAA Season

The Assumption Greyhounds at the newest NCAA Division I women's hockey program playing in NEWHA. They are looking to hit the ground running in 2023-2024.

The Assumption Greyhounds are set to become the NCAA’s newest Division I women’s program when the puck drops on their 2023-2024 season.

Assumption will be joining the New England Women’s Hockey Alliance (NEWHA) becoming the conference’s eighth team. In 2022-2023, Stonehill College joined the NEWHA. For the first time, the conference also received an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. It’s a move Assumption’s new head coach Jack Sweeney believes is important for the conference, and his new team.

“I think that was a really big step for women’s hockey and obviously for us as a program it’s a big deal,” Sweeney said.

Sweeney has long served in men’s hockey as the director of operations for the Eastern Hockey Federation, as deputy commissioner of the USPHL, and coach for multiple college hockey programs.

While Sweeney said his program got a late start, beginning their recruiting less than a year ago, he’s happy with the 20 recruits the team has already signed, and believes the program will still add talent before the puck drops on their inaugural season.

“I’m pretty excited about the group we have,” Sweeney said. “The reception by players has been excellent, the strength of the league and direction of the league really helped Assumption.”

Assumption University, located in Worcester, Massachusetts, primarily offers NCAA Division II programs, with their new women’s hockey program marking a new era in athletic competition for the school. Despite the Division II moniker for most of Assumption’s athletic programs, Sweeney said the school’s reputation has aided in recruitment.

“Assumption has a really rich athletic tradition at the Division II level,” he said. “Our sports teams have done very well in recent years and the academic piece is a big part, those things made it easy to recruit. As much as we started late, we were working a lot, because of that we were able to attract some talented players.”

Assumptions recruits are coming from a variety of youth and prep programs, including multiple players from Cushing and Gentry Academies, as well as players from teams including Little Caesars and the Boston Jr. Eagles.

With a roster full of rookie, Sweeney knows there will be growing pains, and expectations need to remain realistic.

“Expectations are hard,” he said. “When you have a brand new team, there’s a lot of growth to getting every single player on the same page. Every player is new to me, my coaching style, the expectations I have from shift to shift, that’s going to take time. But we’ll get better every single day. By the end of our first season, I hope to be a well organized team, competing against the established programs in our conference.”

Last season, the LIU Sharks were both the regular season and NEWHA playoff champions advancing to the NCAA tournament.