Color of Hockey: Black women coaches make history in NCAA Division I

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog since 2012. Douglas joined NHL.com in 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, he profiles Olivia Soares and Nina Rodgers, who became the first Black women coaches to oppose each other in an NCAA Division I hockey game.

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. --College hockey history was made Saturday when assistant coaches Olivia Soares and Nina Rodgers faced off against each other, the first time two Black women coaches did so in an NCAA Division I hockey game.

Soares' Union College Dutchwomen defeated Rodgers' Dartmouth College Big Green 5-4 in overtime of an Eastern College Athletic Conference Hockey contest that was significant for both women beyond the final score.

"I think just the combination of everything and to coach against Nina was a great experience for me, selfishly, a lot of fun and, for the team, I'm proud of the win." Soares said. "It was cool, us both running the forwards, so we were kind of right between the glass on each side of it and I did look over, it was awesome. That was a moment for us to see that we belong in this game."
Rodgers said the game was a huge moment in her hockey career.

"Just having little girls being able to see not only one, but two of us living our dream in a space that's not always welcoming to us," she said. "And then us kind of honing our role into, like, into believing that we do belong here, too, and we're doing what we love to do. We're just going to keep spreading the joy, the love and keep being role models."

Rodgers joined Dartmouth on July 14, 2021. The 26-year-old from Minnetonka, Minnesota, is believed to be the first Black woman to coach in NCAA Division I hockey.

She joined Kelsey Koelzer as a trailblazer. Koelzer became the NCAA's first Black woman head coach when Arcadia University, a Division III school in Glenside, Pennsylvania near Philadelphia, hired her Sept. 9, 2019.

Rodgers, a 2014 Minnesota Ms. Hockey finalist, was a forward on the University of Minnesota teams that won the NCAA Frozen Four in 2015 and 2016. She transferred to Boston University after getting 15 points (nine goals, six assists) in 81 games from 2014-16. She had 41 points (17 goals, 24 assists) in 65 games for BU from 2016-18.

She was selected by the Connecticut Whale of the National Women's Hockey League (now the Premier Hockey Federation) in the fifth round (No. 17) of the 2017 draft and played one season for them before signing with the Minnesota Whitecaps in 2019. She had 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 26 NWHL/PHF games from 2018-21.

Rodgers gravitated to coaching while playing. She was an instructor at a girls' high school training program and a coach in the Upper Midwest High School Hockey Elite League, and then part of a coaching staff of all women of color for Minnesota Unbounded, a program co-founded in 2021 by Dartmouth director of women's hockey operations Tina Kampa and Meredith Lang for girls of color in the state.

"That was amazing, it was a lot of fun," Rodgers said. "I was very fortunate to be part of it."

Soares became the second Black woman to coach in NCAA Division I on Aug. 4, following her first coaching job as an assistant at Division III Colby College in Waterville, Maine, last season. The 24-year-old from Boston was a forward for Ohio State University from 2016-20 and team captain in her final season. She had eight points (two goals, six assists) in 142 games for the Buckeyes.

Soares began preparing to transition into coaching while playing at Ohio State, peppering coach Nadine Muzerall with questions and seeking advice from other college coaches.

One was Union's Josh Sciba.

"The first conversation I had with her blew me away," Sciba said. "When our former assistant coach stepped down and we started talking with Liv, it was crystal clear she was the best candidate for the job.

"It was so clear how much she wanted to take on, what she wanted to do, she wanted to learn, she wanted to grow. And she's just so hungry to do everything, teach, do skills. She was just the perfect fit to help our players."

Soares said she hopes the experience she's gaining as an assistant will lead to head coaching opportunities in women's hockey. Rodgers said she wants to develop into a "super-sidekick" assistant, coaching girls or women in college or the pros.

"I think it's great that there are a lot of women in the NHL and they're welcoming more young women, but I think I would have the most impact on the girls' side," she said. "I want to grow the game there."

Photos: Idalis Fuentes, Union College Athletics, Brian Foley