Abby Smith ’24, Teagan Brown ’27 and Sami Quackenbush ’24, won NESCAC awards. Photo courtesy of Josh McKee
While the Continentals’ season may have ended earlier than hoped, the season as a whole was one for the record books. The team had a difficult act to follow after the 2022–2023 campaign, the best in the program’s history. That year, the Continentals smashed their previous single season wins record of 16 by going 22–6–2, finished second in the conference standings, played in the NESCAC championship final for the first time, made their first NCAA championship appearance and advanced to the national semifinals. This year the women made the NESCAC finals once again, finished with a final ranking of eighth in the nation and the team won multiple individual awards and achievements, including making the NCAA championship. The team will lose 9 seniors, including the team’s two captains, Abby Smith ’24 and Bobbi Roca ’24. Still, a young core should keep the team competitive for years to come. This was head coach Kayte Holtz’s first season in charge after serving as assistant coach since the 2013–2014 season, and she led the team to a great freshman season. The 2023–2024 season was arguably the second-greatest season in Hamilton Women’s Hockey history.
Statistically, Claire McGennis ’27 led Hamilton with 14 goals this season, finishing her career with 21 goals and 43 points for the Continentals. Smith led the team in points, with 17 alongside five game winning goals. Quackenbush led the team in assists with 12, leading her to be third on the team in points. She ended her career with 33 points on seven goals and 26 assists. The Hamilton defense ranked third in the NESCAC with 1.50 goals allowed per game. Hamilton was second in the NESCAC for power play percentage at .212 and third in shutouts with six over 29 games.
In terms of individual awards, Sami Quackenbush ’24 was selected for the 2023–24 CCM Hockey/American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) Division III Women’s Hockey All-America Team. The honor is her first and the seventh in Hamilton women’s hockey team history. It signifies her as being a top 20 player in the nation. Quackenbush was also a NESCAC first team honoree alongside teammate Smith. This was the first time either had received the honor. Teagen Brown ’27 won NESCAC rookie of the year, in part due to her ranking second in the conference among goaltenders in both save percentage (.950) and goals against average (1.14). Brown is the fourth Hamilton player to earn Rookie of the Year and first since Nancy Loh in 2019. 13 players made the 2024 NESCAC Winter All-Academic Team, meaning that they were sophomores, juniors or seniors with a grade point average of 3.50 or higher. Bobbi Roca ’24 is a member of the The All-Sportsmanship Team NESCAC team, one of eight Hamilton athletes chosen.
The team finished the regular season 15–6–6, earning themselves the 4th seed in the NESCAC tournament. In the quarterfinal, the team defeated Trinity in a 2–0 shutout. In the semi-finals they faced the defending NESCAC champions, first seed and 3rd nationally ranked Amherst, besting the opposition 2–1. This would lead the Continentals to the NESCAC finals. However, they would fall to second seed and seventh nationally ranked Middlebury 4–0. This performance was good enough to earn the team the second at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. They matched up with Nazareth College in the first round, resulting in a 2–1 overtime win coming off a game winner from Lydia Bullock ’26. The Continentals season would end in the next round with a 4–1 defeat to third nationally ranked Adrian in the quarterfinals. Despite the loss, the team ended the season 16–7–6 overall, tied for the second best record in program history and a fourth place finish within the NESCAC in regular season play.