2025-26 Boston College Women's Hockey Preview

Jane Rattigan women’s head hockey coach Katie King Crowley, a two-time AHCA National Coach of the Year (2015, 2016), is entering her 19th season at the helm of the program, and her resume speaks for itself.

The former Brown University skater and Bears’ all-time leading scorer, as well as an Ivy League Hall of Fame inductee in both hockey and softball, Crowley has amassed 410 wins in her career on the Heights to just 175 losses, along with 62 ties.

BC has made six Frozen Fours under Crowley’s guidance, 11 NCAA Tournaments, along with capturing three Hockey East Tournament titles, five Hockey East Regular-Season Titles, and six Beanpot wins during Crowley’s tenure.

In December of 2023, Crowley was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame—she was an Olympian skater in 1998, 2002, and 2006—and her name will forever be etched into the record books of multiple schools and programs, including USA hockey’s, Brown’s, and most definitely BC’s.

If Crowley decided to retire before this season, approaching her second decade with the team, she would easily go down as the best women’s hockey coach in BC history, along with one of the greatest coaches to ever grace Chestnut Hill, Mass., in any sport, for that matter.

The Eagles are coming off a strong 2024-25 season in which the program rebounded from a 15-14-7 overall record a season prior to 21-13-2 and a Hockey East Tournament Semifinals appearance.

Here is everything you need to know about the Eagles entering the 2025-26 season.

The Freshies

BC is inheriting a group of six freshmen in the class of 2029 to the program this year, and three out of six are local to Massachusetts.

That trio consists of defensemen Madelyn Murphy (Dorchester) and Alaina Dunn (Walpole), who both attended Dexter Southfield School in Brookline, along with Emily Mara, who prepped at Phillips Academy, out of Winchester. 

Mara is also a member of the Boston College women’s soccer team as a forward. In 2024 and 2025 at Andover, she was named a two-year member of the Boston Globe NEPSAC All-Star list.

Weston, Conn., native Maude Niemann (St. Paul’s School), Downington, Pa., native Ava Thomas (Junior Flyers), and Sherbrooke, Quebec, native Maxim Tremblay, all forwards, round out the rookie group.

Tremblay, the only Canadian-born player in Crowley’s 2006 recruiting class, previously played for Stanstead College, an independent boarding school in Quebec which is similar to the programs that the other five freshmen emerged from.

In 2023-24, Tremblay suited up for Canada’s U18 women’s team in the International Junior Tournament, and the 5-foot-10 right-handed shooter contributed 160 total points in her final season at Stanstead in JWHL (Juniors Women’s Hockey League) and CAHS (Canadian Hockey School Hockey) play.

Tremblay is one of the most lethal goal scorers from Canada in her class, according to Ian Kennedy of The Hockey News, earning the title of “one of the next big names in women’s hockey” from the news source, which is a prominent outlet in the college hockey world.

Back in May of 2023, when she was just finishing up her sophomore season in high school, Tremblay’s former coach, Bernie Pimm, had high praise for the future Eagle.

"Tremblay continues to learn how to assert herself as an impact player who loves to compete hard on a consistent basis," Primm told The Hockey News. "Maxim is a versatile forward who can play both wing and center. In special teams situations, Max uses her reach and compete to dominate on the penalty kill. On the power-play, she is a multi-dimensional threat who can score from anywhere on the ice."

The Newbies

There are two new additions to the Eagles’ roster from the transfer portal, sophomore forward Sage Babey (Merrimack) and redshirt-senior forward Emma Conner (Minnesota).

Babey, originally from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, played in 34 games for the Warriors in 2024-25, leading Merrimack’s rookie class in goals with nine. The 5-foot-8, right-handed shooter posted two multi-point games last year, one against Lindenwood on Oct. 26, 2024, and one against Holy Cross on Dec. 7.

Conner, a two-time WCHA All-Academic selection (2023-24, 2024-25), is coming off a redshirt-junior campaign in which she registered a career-high five goals, including two game-winners—once against St. Thomas on Jan. 10, 2025, and once against St. Cloud State on Feb. 15.

Hailing from Edina, Minn.—which has produced a number of NCAA Division I talent over the last few decades—Conner has contributed to multiple runs to the Frozen Four for the Gophers (2023 and 2025), so she has a level of experience in the postseason realm that not many current players on the Eagles’ roster can boast as well.

Conner is a left-handed stick and maneuvers herself well around the net, lifting up sticks and shielding the puck like a true power forward. 

Her first goal of the season last year occurred early in the third period against Minnesota-Duluth, in which Conner positioned herself next the right post before ducking under a defender, where she slapped a one-timer into the back of the net to make it 3-1 Gophers in an eventual win.

Minnesota appeared in the NCAA Tournament every year that Conner was on the roster.

The Vets

The Eagles lost two of their top trio of forwards from 2024-25, which includes Abby Newhook, who was selected 34th overall in the 2025 PWHL Draft by the Boston Fleet, and Julia Pellerin, who transferred to UConn in April after leading all of Hockey East in goals (20), along with finishing fourth in points (34).

However, BC does retain junior forward Sammy Taber, who manufactured a team-high 36 points (11 goals, 25 assists) last year. In 2023-24, as a freshman, Taber was named the Hockey East Rookie of the Year, and she has only shown improvement over the course of her career thus far.

Kate Ham (nine goals, eight assists) is also returning for one last ride, along with sophomores Lauren Glaser (six goals, 11 assists), Alanna Devlin (seven goals, eight assists), and Tricia Piku (four goals, three assists), all forwards.

The Eagles are a bit thinner in the offensive realm defensively, losing one of their top blue-line playmakers in Molly Jordan, who transferred to Minnesota and finished fourth on the team in points (eight goals, 16 assists) as a freshman last season.

Apart from Murphy and Dunn, the core of BC’s backline still remains, consisting of seniors Cailin Flynn, Jade Arnone and Shea Frost, and sophomores Jaime Griswold, Kiera Dempsey, and Olivia Maffeo.

Arnone ranked third on the team in blocked shots (44) in 2024-25, followed by Maffeo (42), and the duo generated a combined plus-minus rating of +12.

The Tendies

Grace Campbell is returning for her fourth season with the program and has made an impression on NCAA Division I women's hockey ever since she arrived at BC from prep hockey powerhouse Shattuck-St. Mary's School.

Campbell surrendered 67 total goals in 2024-25, good for a 2.04 goals against average (GAA), improving from a 2.43 GAA as a sophomore, and manufactured 20 wins to just 11 losses and two ties, including five shutouts.

She finished the season with a .930 save percentage, up from .923 in 2023-24, including a .938 save percentage in conference play—good for fourth in Hockey East.

Campbell is backed up by a pair of junior goalies, Bailey Callaway and Bella Pomarico. Pomarico has not touched the ice in her career with the Eagles, but Callaway appeared in six games as a sophomore last season, going 1-2 with a GAA of 3.57 and a save percentage of .895.

The Schedule

Full Roster: Click HERE

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