USA Hockey Magazine

November 2012

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NIAGARA N No, No Hockey Dreams Won't Die Even After University Drops Div. I Women's Program By RANDY SCHULTZ atasha Fryer makes her way across the Niagara University campus on a Wednesday night in late September. bag over her shoulder, Fryer makes her way to Dwyer Arena where she meets up with other members of the university's women's club hockey team. By 10:30 the group of players skate onto the ice for practice. Oh, what a difference a year makes. Back in September 2011, NU had a Carrying a hockey Div. I women's hockey team. Six months later, March 18 to be exact, the university announced the immediate contraction of women's ice hockey as part of a restructur- ing of its intercollegiate athletics program. So much for a program that was founded 30 in 1998 and reached the national semifinals in just its fourth year in existence. The announcement came without warn- ing for all those concerned, including the head coach, Josh Sciba. two weeks before the season began, there was never an inkling that something like this was coming," Sciba recalls. "We were taking things one day at a time. We weren't worried about the long term." "When I took over as head coach about The former head coach of the Lady Purple Eagles hockey team even felt there wasn't any concern about the future as the season wore on. That all changed in March. "We never found out until the day it was announced. We even had our first spring workout planned," Sciba recalls. "We had our athletic director and even NOVEMBER.2012 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM PHOTOS COURTESY OF Niagara University; Janet Schultz

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