How Brooklyn Schneiderhan Made It From Montana to the Top of NEWHA

St. Anselm senior forward Brooklyn Schneiderhan was one of the only girls in Montana to play hockey at her level, and after skipping over prep school, she has charted her own path to Division 1. Now, she tops NEWHA in goals (18) and points (32), leading an underestimated team to the top of the conference. 

Her uncle put her on skates at two years old, when she lived in Medicine Park, Alberta. Even in Canada, she was one of the only girls who could keep up with the boys.

By ninth grade, a year after moving to Montana, Schneiderhan knew she wanted to play D1 hockey — but the recruitment process looked different for her. She didn’t have any interest in moving far from home at just 14, despite Montana’s lack of girls' hockey.

Instead, she joined the all-boys Helena High School team, a team put together from several local high schools, due to the lack of skaters in the area. She later got a spot on the more competitive Team Montana State boys team (AA).

“I think the boys' playing style has made me the player who I am today. I mean, we started hitting when we were in peewee, so it taught me how to keep my head up and move the puck faster and just be aware of my surroundings,” Schneiderhan told The Ice Garden. 

Playing in Montana on only all-boys teams didn’t help her recruitment, though. It was only after getting to the national tournament with the Team Montana State boys’ team (AA) in 2018 that she caught interest. 

“Someone's coach watched me play and texted or called or got in contact with someone out here in Boston, and they contacted me and asked me if I wanted to play in Beantown with a girls team,” Schneiderhan said.

After that, Schneiderhan began attending tournaments with all-girls teams like the Milwaukee Jr. Admirals and U16 Belle Tire AAA in order to get attention from college coaches. 

When the head coach at St. Anselm — at the time, Kerstin Matthews — called and told her she was their top recruit, she was far from familiar with the New Hampshire school. After Matthews assured her she could pursue nursing while being a student-athlete, everything clicked into place. Schneiderhan graduated from a class of around 67 students from Jefferson High School in Boulder, Mont., and with a student population under 2,500 students, St. Anselm didn’t feel too different from home.  

“Everybody knows each other. It's nice just to be able to like walk on campus and put a name to a face,” Schneiderhan said. 

Four seasons into her time with the Hawks, the road hasn’t been easy. Despite averaging 25.3 points a season — 25 her freshman year, 28 her sophomore year and 23 her junior year — she’s battled through both a hand and foot injury. For her final season, she’s finally healthy and has stepped up as both the team’s captain and leading scorer. 

“I definitely have more confidence in myself than what I have had in the past. I worked really, really hard off-season,” Schneiderhan said. “I mean, I do every season, but it's my senior year. I’ve got to leave it all out there.”

As the leader of a team filled with mostly underclassmen, she is intent on defying early predictions that the Lions would sink to the bottom of the conference. St. Anselm currently holds a 13-6-1 in-conference record and is just one point away from topping the NEWHA conference. 

“I think we're trying to prove something,” Schneiderhan said. “Just because most of our team is underclassmen doesn't mean we can't compete as well.”

Now, she’s a health sciences major, and whether or not she’s selected for the PWHL draft, she hopes to eventually return home to pursue nursing and help build women’s hockey in Montana. Recently, the state launched its first-ever all-girls hockey team, and after growing up in a state without girls hockey, Schneiderhan wants to help coach when she's home. 

“I'm just hoping to leave an impact here and get to give back to my community back in Helena who's supported me through everything,” Schneiderhan said. “I mean, everybody roots for everybody in that town no matter who you are where you're where you go.”

The PWHL draft picks will be announced this summer, and after a triumphant season, Schneiderhan is hoping to get her shot. As the women's game grows increasingly physical, she thinks her time spent playing men's hockey might help make a difference in the pros.

"It's nice to have that background instead of just getting thrown into it and know how to like protect yourself and keep your head up," Schneiderhan said.

If she does get selected, it will be a dream come true.

“It would be really cool and a surreal moment if my name got called, but if not, I’m still really proud of myself for being able to stay home and still reach this level, and I'm really happy with the team and the school,” she said.