Running full speed into the 2024-25 season on the heels of a double-digit win season and an 11th trip to the NESCAC Tournament, the Wesleyan women’s ice hockey team has sights set on a NESCAC title as they return top scorers in a 19-woman returning roster as head coach Jodi McKenna welcomes an incoming freshmen class of four. The Cardinals open the season on Nov. 15 at Bowdoin.
Finishing sixth in the NESCAC with 24 points, the Cardinals closed the regular season 12-10-3 overall with a 7-7-2 record against their conference foes. Entering the conference tournament for the 11th time in program history, the Cardinals fell to Colby, 3-2, in the quarterfinal round, effectively ending their season. Despite an early exit from the championship, Jenna Stevens ’24 was named the NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year, the first Cardinal to ever earn the honor while also receiving a First Team All-NESCAC selection. Stevens was also named a New England Hockey Writers Association Division III All Star, just the second Cardinal to earn the accolade.
21 days into the new year, the Cardinals played arguably their strongest game of the season, toppling No. 3 Amherst, 2-1, in the second of a two-game weekend series. On a historic night of firsts, the Cardinals laid claim to their first triumph over a Top 5 ranked opponent as they walked away from Orr Rink with their first road win over the Mammoths in 24 years and first overall win since 2018. Handing the Mammoths their second loss of the season, Shannon Burke ’25 and Isabella Allieri ’25 lit the lamp up to break open the scoring. The Mammoths entered the series as the 2023 national runner-up and were able to take game one the day before, 3-1.
Returning to the lineup as the 2022 and 2023 scoring leader, Christina Tournas ’25 closed last season as a plus-6 forward for the Cardinals, racking up nine goals and five assists for 14 points. Leading the team and the NESCAC in power-play goals with four, Tournas ranked Top 10 in several categories including, but limited to, eighth in goals (9), 10th in goals per game (.36), and fifth in shot percentage (.20). Tournas scored the game-winning goal in a 3-1 comeback victory over Bowdoin.
Dylan Green makes the roster for her junior season as she finished 2023 second in points for the Cardinals behind Brigitte Goeler-Slough ’23. Collecting seven goals and nine assists for 16 points, Green finished as a plus-7. In a 6-1 run down of UNE on Dec. 9, Green recorded a four-point game, tallying two goals and two assists, the most points for a Cardinal in a single game since 2008. Green’s only game-winning goal of the season came in the UNE matchup.
Clocking 186 faceoff wins last season, Caroline Kee ’26 returns as the leading faceoff expert for the Cardinals in 2024-25. Kee ranked 10th amongst NESCAC players last season, going 186-205 from the circle with 391 total faceoffs taken. Kee was a plus-2 at the end of the season, logging 12 points with seven goals and five assists on the scoresheet.
Amelia Molin ’27 went 174-161 from the faceoff circle last year, ranking high in the lineup as the season progresses on the offensive front. Molin finished last season with three goals and four assists.
Allowing just 1.9 goals per game last season, several top defenders will be competing to make the starting lineup once again. Third in blocked shots last season behind Goeler-Slough and Stevens, Sam DeLeo is the top returning defender. Making 23 blocked shots in front of Rei Halloran ’23, DeLeo was crucial to the shutdown game while also picking up seven assists in the process.
Aimee Seppenwolde ’27 became a solid two-way player for the Cardinals last season as a freshman, making 20 blocks while also contributing to the Cardinals’ offensive drive with a goal, assisting on five more. Despite the loss to the Mules in the NESCAC quarterfinal, Seppenwolde’s season wasn’t over as she represented Team Netherlands at the IIHF Women’s World Championships.
Graduating out goaltenders Halloran and Cam McCrystal ’24, McKenna will have a sophomore goaltending duo to start the season. A competitive starting position for any returning goalie, Jenna Guglielmi ’27 did see action behind Halloran and McCrystal last season. In two starts, Guglielmi won both games, posting shutout victories over Worchester State on Dec. 3, and Plymouth State on Jan. 16. Both games were won 3-0, Guglielmi making a combined 36 saves.
Sami Smith ’27 is also competing for the start in goal for the Cardinals. Smith served as a captain while at Phillips Exeter Academy. Making 388 saves her senior season with a .943 save percentage, Smith was a two-time team MVP, All-NEPSAC Honorable Mention, and All-New Hampshire selection.
Marking her 17th season as the head of the women’s ice hockey program at Wesleyan, head coach Jodi McKenna sits just four games away from the 100-win milestone with the Cardinals. McKenna has coached one All-American as well as NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year and NESCAC Rookie of the Year. In 2010, McKenna served as an assisted coach for the silver medal United States Women’s National Team at the Vancouver Olympics.
Joining McKenna in her first season with the Cardinals is assistant coach Robin Kitazono. A graduate of the Williams women’s hockey program, Kitazono saw action in 63 games during her career, while tallying 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 points. The Toronto, Ontario native was a ACHA Krampade All-American Scholar with the Ephs.