NEWHA: Transfer Portal Departures

Welcome back everyone to another off-season installment of everything you need to know in the NCAA. Last week, I took a peek at the transfers from Hockey East programs that are heading to new homes for 2025-26, and this week it’s NEWHA’s turn. 

From the eight schools in the New England Women’s Hockey Alliance, there are 27 athletes who have entered the transfer portal this spring. It’s not the highest number for a single conference, but it’s not the smallest number either. 

Going program by program, let’s take a look at what each team has lost in the portal over the last few weeks. And don’t worry—while we may not have full details on where everyone is going just yet, we’ll be back in a few months to give some updates on who’s joining each team for 2025-26. 

Transfer portal spreadsheet provided by Sydney Wolf at Clean Sheet Hockey. 

Assumption 

Year two for the Greyhounds was solid overall, with some impressive, upset wins in conference and an early-season shootout win against New Hampshire to serve as their first non-conference victory in program history. 

Undoubtedly this is one of the younger rosters in the conference, with only two seniors and two grad students in 2024-25. However, the Greyhounds are losing five names in the portal, including two of their top scorers. 

At the top of that list is Jenna Chaplain, who finished second on the team in scoring with 13 points in 36 games. Her eight goals were the most of anyone on the roster, and the sophomore factored in on 25% of the goals scored by Assumption overall. Perhaps even more importantly, the forward won over 400 faceoffs over the course of the season, nearly half of the 954 total the Greyhounds won combined. 

Two other productive players in Emma Gurnell and Teagan Vaughan entered the portal following the season. The defender Vaughan had 10 points in her games this season, and led the team in blocked shots with 63—her next closest teammate in the statistic had 42. Gurnell was a little further down on the scoring sheet with seven points in 36 games; however, she finished third on Assumption in shot generation, with 82 total. 

While the Greyhounds weren’t the most productive team overall this season, the scoring department could struggle a bit more with these losses added in. Vaughan and Chaplain were two of just seven players who scored on the power play this season—no easy feat considering just how much the team struggled on the advantage altogether. It’ll be interesting to see who steps in to replace the scoring, and if the team can’t then it could spell trouble moving into 2025-26. 

Delaney Williams and Molly Walsh are the other two players entered, and while neither recorded a point during the season, they both played sizable minutes for Assumption. Williams played her last game with the team in February, and has since been removed from the Greyhounds website. Walsh also didn’t play after February, and will take her talents to Norwich in Division III for the last two years of her eligibility. 

Franklin Pierce

The Ravens had just two names enter the portal following the season, both forwards buried slightly further down in the depth chart. Rising-sophomore Taylor Hartinger had three points in 25 games this season, with two coming in FPU’s 4-0 win over Saint Michael’s on February 25th. 

The other name is Evelyn Irizarry, who played in just two games over two seasons with the Ravens. The forward from Henniker, New Hampshire never recorded a point in her years with the team, and retains three years of eligibility to take to her next program. 

LIU

The Sharks are another low-transfer-out program this season, and one of the two names departing the program was not a member of their roster this season. Rising-junior Annie Abramson last appeared in net for the Sharks in February of 2024, where she made 21 saves in a 3-1 win over Post. Abramson was not listed on LIU’s roster for this past season, but enters the portal looking for a new program to contribute to with two years of eligibility remaining. 

Defender Peyton O’Neill is the other name from the Sharks in the portal, after playing 29 games as a freshman in 2024-25. O’Neill registered two assists during her rookie season and 18 blocked shots. With three years of eligibility remaining, the defender is an interesting pick up for anyone’s blue line moving forward. 

Post 

After a historic season that saw the Eagles win their first ever conference playoff round, both graduation and the transfer portal have hit them hard. 

Their second highest scorer, and NEWHA Rookie of the Year, Rowyn Ringor is taking her talents to another program following a 26 point freshman season. Ringor was outstanding during her one season with the Eagles, leading the team and conference in assists with 16, as well as finishing with 118 shots on goal to boot. 

Additionally, Macy Peterson has entered the portal, meaning four of the top five scorers from Post this season have either transferred or graduated. Peterson had 10 points in 37 games as a sophomore, but saw the majority of her productivity in the fall. Losing both Ringor and Peterson’s productivity in the portal is going to be difficult to manage for the Eagles, especially considering the additional departures of Julia Wysocki and Angeline Pitter, the other two top offensive weapons I mentioned above. 

Dani Ammons is the lone loss on the blue line for Post, after registering three points in 37 games this season. Where Ammons truly stood out was in front of the puck, where she blocked 35 total shots on goal over the course of the season, good for third best on the team. 

Finally in the portal is Hali Lawrence, who originally transferred into Post from Minot State in the ACHA. The rising-senior played in seven games this past season, making 119 saves in the nearly 300 minutes of ice time. Lawrence recorded her first win back in October, in a 3-2 overtime victory against Franklin Pierce. 

Sacred Heart 

Three names are in the portal for the Pioneers, including one of their captains from last season, Sydney Antonakis. A solid producer, Antonakis finished with 11 points in 35 games, a decent drop off from her 17 the year before. While the drop off is slightly concerning, the forward was still a key contributor over the last three years for the Pioneers, and if she can get her shot totals back up to where they were two years ago, then she can be a strong addition for any program. 

The other two in the portal played a combined nine games this season for SHU as freshmen—forward Shae Carroll and goaltender Julia Matyas. Carroll had six total shots during her eight appearances this season, and also took some reps in the faceoff circle from time to time. Matyas never saw action in the net for SHU, and will have three years of eligibility to take to her next school. 

Saint Anselm 

If we’re talking about the biggest impact transfer in the conference this season, I’d argue it’s a pretty close tie between Ringor, who I spoke about earlier, and Saint Anselm netminder Ava Hills. 

After transferring from UNH last season, Hills appeared in 22 games for the Hawks, and though she finished with a 6-10-4 record, she was very much the de facto starter for Saint Anselm all season. Finishing with 874 saves and a .937 save percentage, Hills was key to a lot of the success the Hawks had this season, and her departure will be felt throughout the lineup as she moves on to Bemidji State. 

The other transfer for the Hawks is forward Lilly Hartnell, who had two goals in 28 games this season, and four points altogether over three seasons. It may not be the biggest loss offensively, but Hartnell still played meaningful minutes for Saint Anselm, and losing that component is tricky. 

Saint Michael’s 

Far and away this season the school with the most transfers out in NEWHA is St. Michael’s, who have seven players in the portal. 

Now let’s be clear—the Purple Knights have struggled offensively and defensively over the last few seasons. Offensively, that could continue again, considering four of their top scorers all entered the portal this spring. 

Alizée LeBlanc with eight points was atop the leaderboard for Saint Michael’s this past season, the smallest step back from her nine points a season ago. LeBlanc saw her biggest jump in productivity in the faceoff circle, winning 50 more draws this season than a year ago. 

Anna Jerylo was tied for third in scoring with six points as a sophomore, but was tied for the lead with three goals total this year. While Jerylo didn’t have as many opportunities as LeBlanc in the circle, she was another one of the key faceoff players for the Purple Knights in her 33 games this season—and was one of three players with a game-winning goal. 

Freshmen Jodie Gratton and Keeley Callander were tied in points with five, though Gratton had more goals (3) than Callander (1). Both had sizable contributions on the opposite side of the puck as well, with Gratton blocking 40 shots to Callender’s 32. 

I know their offensive numbers are low, and yes, they really really are. But considering how low everyone’s point totals were on Saint Michael’s, and how many times the team was shutout over the course of the year, I think there are now a few more concerns about what kind of step the offensive numbers are going to take next season. However, the loss of these players means just that many more open roster spaces moving forward, and with how much of a premium those are these days with roster constrictions taking effect this upcoming year, maybe it’ll turn out better than expected for St. Michael’s. 

The other big name for the Purple Knights is Ellie Newpower, who sneakily had one of the most impactful years as a rookie. Newpower blocked a total of 85 shots this year. Yes, 85 total shot blocks as a first-year player. Her contributions next season will be severely missed, especially as she continues to develop her game. 

The last two names departing are Ella Oakes and Vanessa Sampl, both forwards. Sampl saw action in 20 games without recording a point. Oakes as a freshman in 2023-24 appeared in 18 games, before not dressing in a game at all as a sophomore. Both players retain three years of eligibility moving forward. 

Stonehill

There are two names from the Skyhawks in the portal, and both of these departures will have huge impacts on the team moving forward. 

Kathryn Karo finished third on the team in scoring this season, with 17 points in 39 games. While Karo’s goal scoring was the lowest total of her three seasons with Stonehill, she set a new personal record in total points scored by greatly upping her assist total to 12. More importantly, Karo was one of the top faceoff winners in the NCAA, with 469 total wins on 729 draws. The forward won 37% of the faceoffs won by the entire team, and was a key contributor to the Skyhawks overall success in the dot (55% win rate).

The other name in the portal is Pusle Dyring-Andersen, one of the top defenders in NEWHA last year. With 10 points in 32 games, the rising-junior was a key factor in Stonehill’s defensive success, especially with 43 blocked shots to go with her offensive prowess. While plus/minus is not the best stat to include, it should be noted that Dyring-Andersen had one of the best marks on the entire Stonehill lineup, at just a -1. 

Both of these players were key facets of Stonehill’s game over the last few seasons, and I’d argue the team will be hard pressed to replace their productivity and success quickly. 

Wrap Up

Compared to some of the other conferences, there’s definitely less movement in NEWHA this off-season. However the impact players that are moving are higher in number than in some of the other leagues. It’ll be interesting to see how these players perform moving forward, and what their former programs do to replace their contributions.