Delaware was a first year NCAA Division 1 women's hockey program last season. This year, the expectations for the program are bigger, and according to head coach Allison Coomey, the Delaware Blue Hens are ready to meet that challenge.
Starting an NCAA Division 1 program from scratch is no simple task, but the University of Delaware Blue Hens hit the ice last season with promise, and showed that there are good things to come for the program.
"We grew a lot last year, which was really exciting to see," said head coach Allison Coomey. "I think for us last year and in this coming year, just continuing to focus on the process, getting...our players to buy into that, and they did a tremendous job last year, for such a young team of, you know, as hard as it was sometimes, with the results we got, we were in every game. At least we felt that way."
Delaware struggled in the wins column going 2-31-0 last season, but it wasn't an unexpected result for the first year program, competing in Atlantic Hockey America alongside established programs such as Penn State, Mercyhurst, RIT, Robert Morris, Lindenwood, and Syracuse.
The team is returning the bulk of their top players, but did watch senior captain and leading scorer Kaitlin Finnegan age out. The next five on their scoring chart however, are back, with most entering their sophomore season. That group is headlined by Francesca Barresi and Katelynn Charlton, as well as transfer Hailey Anderson from Franklin Pierce.
Delaware also has some intriguing recruits coming in including a group from the Chicago Mission, and two offensively adept players out of the OWHL.
With how much growth Coomey saw last season, coupled with the incoming recruits, she expects Delaware to continue to improve.
We felt it last spring, honestly. That was really the time that we saw a ton of development," said Coomey.
Last year her roster was only together for 14 hours on the ice before they played their first game. It wasn't long enough in Coomey's eyes to lay the foundation they needed. But by the second half of their inaugural campaign, things were beginning to click, and Coomey expects the returning Blue Hens will be ready for more.
"[We] saw a lot of growth from our current sophomore class back in the spring, and they did a great job over the summer preparing themselves for this season," Coomey said. "I think they're hungry, hungry to get back at it, but definitely, definitely growth there, which has been really good to see, and especially with our incomers joining the squad, it's been really good just to see the drive from our current team to, to help that group."
The Delaware Blue Hens open their 2026-27 NCAA women's hockey season with a non-conference series against Holy Cross September 25 and 26.
