AHA Monthly Recap: September 2025

Hello all,

My name is Giselle and I am the lucky person covering the Atlantic Hockey America conference for you this season here at The Ice Garden. I am excited and honored to be writing about another conference in the world of women's college hockey and I hope you enjoy this recap and all the fun stuff I have in the works. I am also entering my second season covering the WCHA if you want to check out my work covering that conference.

Ok, the AHA is back! The 2025-26 campaign kicked off with Mercyhurst scaring the heck out of a nationally ranked Minnesota Duluth team, Penn State continuing their dominance, and a new friend in the world of women's college hockey. Let's start there with the debut of the University of Delaware women's hockey team.

Featured Game: Delaware vs. LIU

This month’s featured game is Delaware’s opening series against Long Island University. The Blue Hens began their inaugural season hosting the Sharks. Though Delaware suffered a sweep, the weekend was still momentous. Ice hockey became the school’s 22nd varsity sport in 2023. The women’s program is the 45th Division I program in the country as well. The roster is made up of 22 freshmen, four transfers, and goaltender Sydney Butler, who had spent the previous three years as a member of the school’s club hockey team. The roster also includes Billi Roman, a Delaware native and the only woman from the state who is playing Division I hockey.

Delaware opened their season allowing no goals in the first period and two goals in each of the second and third periods. The Blue Hens did have reason to celebrate, as Francesca Barresi scored in the second period for the first goal in program history. Barresi was also the program’s first commit, so if anyone was scoring the first goal, it had to be her!

The following game, there were even more wonderful moments. The captain, Kaitlin Finnegan, scored her first goal for the program after transferring from Lindenwood. The Blue Hens’ second goal came from Delaware native Roman, who scored in the second period to tie the game at two.

Though they suffered a 5-2 loss in game two, the weekend was a heartfelt series for this new Division I team. To be able to create a new ice hockey team is one thing, but to commit to gender equality so much so that the university decides on a women’s hockey team is incredible. Delaware is a state with no pro hockey teams in the area, and expanding the reach of hockey through the sport and through a women’s team deserves a huge congratulations. 

They may not have won the series, but Delaware sure won with such wonderful full circle moments this weekend. If you are in Delaware or in any surrounding area and can get out and support the team, please do so!

Awards Season🏆:

Best Player of September - Mercyhurst goaltender Tara Bach

The 17-year-old (!!!) recorded a 25 save shutout in her first career start for Mercyhurst. She stood tall in net for a Lakers 4-0 win to sweep New Hampshire over the weekend. A young player like Bach starting her college career in a new place and settling in well on the ice for a shutout is very fun to see!

Best Team of September - Robert Morris

The Colonials swept their opening series against Assumption with scores of 6-2 and 4-2. In the opening game, they scored four goals in the second period and two more in the third. The team was led by newcomer Jessica MacKinnon, who recorded a goal and two assists in the first game and followed it up with a two assist effort the following day. MacKinnon was exceptional with faceoffs, going 15-for-24 in the first game. She leads the team in scoring, with five points, and was honored as the AHA’s Forward of the Week. Captain Alaina Giampietro made her return to game play for the first time since November 2024, with two goals in two games. Freshman defender Laura Misner recorded a goal and two assists in the opening weekend series, and earned the AHA’s Rookie of the Week honor for the opening week. Her three points tied a program record for most in a first career game. Misner also added four blocked shots.

Robert Morris currently sits at 2-0 in this early season but getting contributions from strong players so early can build momentum for the team. The Colonials will visit Bemidji State starting on Oct. 3.

Notable Milestones/Moments From the First Weeks:

• Delaware debuted their new women’s program!

• Francesca Barresi, the Blue Hens' first commit scored the very first goal in Delaware Division I program history!

• The following day, Delaware native Billi Roman scored her first goal.

• Bach's aforementioned shutout debut for the Lakers.

• Robert Morris captain Giampietro (see above) returned to the ice after almost a year.

• Syracuse goalie Ava Drabyk has some incredible stats in just her first few games of play, including making 78 saves in the series against Duluth this past weekend.

• Lindenwood goaltender Madison Bowtell recorded a career-high 38 saves in her start against St. Cloud State on Sept. 19.

Interesting Storyline:

The eighth-ranked Nittany Lions opened their season facing ninth-ranked St. Lawrence. Three first period goals and a strong performance by Katie DeSa in net helped Penn State to a 3-0 win in the opening game. It was DeSa’s 14th career shutout. The following day, the Nittany Lions completed the sweep with a comeback win when they scored three unanswered goals in the third period for a 5-2 win.  Tessa Janecke collected a goal and an assist for the 44th multi-point game of her career. With such strong performances by Penn State and a weekly honor for DeSa as well, the Nittany Lions earned their highest ranking in program history when they were ranked sixth by the USCHO this week. A huge honor for the team, but also a great reminder that there are so many talented teams throughout college hockey to keep an eye on as the season progresses.

Penn State visits Vermont for a weekend series beginning Oct. 3.

Something You May Have Missed:

RIT opened their season in Rochester with a two game series against Post. The Tigers earned a 2-0 win thanks to a shutout in their opening game by senior goaltender Sophia Bellina, who made 13 saves for her third career shutout. The following game, RIT beat Post 8-1 behind a strong power play showing. A program-best six of the Tigers’ eight goals came on the power play. First year forward Tilli Keranen collected three points in the win for her first collegiate points. RIT visits 14th ranked Northeastern on Oct. 3 and 4.

Looking Ahead:

A series to look forward to from an AHA team is the Mercyhurst vs. St. Lawrence series happening Oct. 3-4. The Saints are ranked 10th nationally. They opened their season with an exhibition game against Colgate and were swept in their first weekend of play. On the other hand, Mercyhurst played a huge opening series against top five ranked Minnesota Duluth. The Lakers lost in overtime 4-3 in game one and lost 5-3 in the second game. They did put up a strong showing in the first game by giving the Bulldogs a huge scare. If Mercyhurst can do that in their first game against a highly ranked team, who is to say they won’t battle it out with St. Lawrence this weekend too? With Tara Bach in net, the teenager may just be the difference.

You can check out the full AHA schedule here.

Thanks for reading! See you all for the October recap!