The NGHL is thrilled to be working with a dedicated and knowledgeable staff for our camp, June 10 & 11, 2023. These current NCAA coaches run skills training, coach games, and lead seminars on recruitment and other helpful topics for the athletes.
Eliza Kelley is the first head coach in Worcester State women’s ice hockey history in March 2021. The new team began its inaugural season in the fall of 2021. Kelley led the Lancers to a 32-14-4 overall record in the program's first two seasons.
Prior to leading the Lancers, Kelley spent seven seasons as the head coach for the Becker College Hawks. She was the first coach at Becker College when they launched their women’s ice hockey program. In her time at Becker, Kelley showed an ability to recruit talented players and build a competitive program.
Prior to her time at Becker, Kelley spent four years as a full-time assistant for her alma mater, Utica College. During her time on the bench, she helped guide the Pioneers to a 56-43-6 overall record.
Kelley played three seasons for Utica prior to coaching. In her time as a player, she was selected to the ECAC Women’s West All-Academic Team. In her senior year, Kelley became an assistant coach for the Pioneers.
Coaching Career Katie Zimmerman was named head coach of the Western New England University women's ice hockey program on June 12, 2019, and is the first head coach in program history.
Zimmerman comes to Western New England following five seasons as an assistant coach at Amherst College, where she helped lead the Mammoths to a record of 82-34-18 (.679). The 2015-16 Amherst squad enjoyed its most successful regular season in program history, going 20-1-3 en route to an appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament quarterfinals.
Prior to her time in Amherst, Zimmerman broke into the coaching profession as an assistant at SUNY Cortland in 2013-14. Additionally, she has held various roles with USA Hockey, including National Camp Head Coach, Intern, and District Evaluator/Coach.
Playing Career Zimmerman, a 2013 graduate of Hamilton College, was a standout performer during her four-year career with the Continentals. The Plymouth, Michigan native was a two-time All-NESCAC selection, leading the conference in goals in both her junior and senior seasons. Zimmerman also earned D3Hockey.com All-East Region accolades at the conclusion of her final collegiate campaign.
After earning her undergraduate degree in Communications from Hamilton, Zimmerman went on to receive a master's degree in Coaching Education from Ohio University in 2016.
Coaching Career Salerno joined the staff at Middlebury for the second time in 2018 as an assistant coach. She spent one season as the head coach at Castleton, after spending a winter at the University of Vermont as an assistant coach.
In 2017-18, she led Castleton to 13 wins and a New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) semifinal appearance, earning conference co-coach of the year honors. The previous season, Salerno was an assistant coach at the University of Vermont during the 2016-17 season, helping the Catamounts to a winning record and a berth in the Hockey East semifinals for just the second time in program history.
During her first two seasons at Middlebury (2014-16), she was the point person in the recruiting process, reviewed and prepared game film, developed the year-round strength and conditioning program, and was responsible for coaching the penalty-kill unit. The Panthers posted a 41-11-6 record (.759) during her two years on the staff, winning the NESCAC title and advancing to the final four in 2016. In the two seasons since her return in 2018, Middlebury has gone 37-11-6 and ranked among the national leaders each year in penalty killing.
Playing Career After playing at Amherst for three years, Salerno transferred to Vermont for the 2013-14 season, helping the Catamounts set a program record for single-season wins with 18 and advance to the semifinals of the Hockey East Tournament for the first time in program history. A defender on the squad, she was selected to the Hockey East All-Academic Team.
Salerno graduated from Vermont in 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology. She also holds an ISSA Strength and Conditioning Certification and is a NASM Certified Nutrition Coach.
Tori Emoff was named the third head coach in Stevenson University women's ice hockey program history on July 8, 2019.
Mia Del Rosso is the Assistant Coach at Trinity College in the NESCAC. This fall will be the start of her third season coaching the Bantams. She also enrolled as a graduate student at the college.
Del Rosso graduated from Amherst College in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience. She was a North American prospect for the Chinese Women’s National and Olympic programs ahead of the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Rosso hails from Hingham, MA, and now resides in CT. Growing up she played club for the Bay State Breakers and East Coast Wizards and attended prep school at St. George’s in RI. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and surfing.
Rachel Grampp completed her first full season as the women's hockey coach in 2022-23 after serving as the interim coach in 2021-22 and leading the Bengals to seven victories in the season, and had one player from the team, Vanessa Willick, selected to the NEWHL All-Rookie Team.
Grampp served as an assistant coach with the Bengals since 2019. She has previous coaching experience as an assistant with SUNY Canton in 2018-19 as well as serving as an intern coach for the U15 USA National Development Camp.
Grampp was a standout player at Elmira College where she was the United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) Defensive Player of the Year and an American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) Academic All-American as a senior. She helped the Soaring Eagles reach the NCAA Championships during all four seasons of her career, including a pair of national runner-up finishes in 2015 and 2018.
The four-year student-athlete also competed for the women's lacrosse (Empire 8 Honorable Mention) and women's soccer teams (goalkeeper; led Empire 8 in saves per game).
A native of Williamsville, N.Y., Grampp completed her bachelor's degree in psychology with a criminal justice minor.
Jess Koizumi started as the program's new associate head coach in June of 2017 and entered her sixth season at UVM in 2022-23. Koizumi served during the 2016-17 campaign as the associate head coach at Ohio State after spending six seasons as an assistant coach at Yale.
Koizumi spent considerable time on the recruiting trail for the Catamounts and provided support in all other aspects of the program. In the 2018-19 season, Koizumi worked with the Catamounts' penalty kill unit which finished the season with a nation-high 88.4%.
Prior to arriving in Burlington, Koizumi was the Buckeyes' recruiting coordinator and coached the team's defensemen. Ohio State posted a record of 14-18-5 and earned its first postseason victory since the 2013-14 season. OSU also took points against multiple ranked teams, including 2017 Frozen Four participants Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Buckeyes' roster boasted the team's first All-American since 2012 (Kassidy Sauve) and a pair of All-WCHA performers (Sauve and Jincy Dunne).
As a player, Koizumi was a standout and All-WCHA performer at Minnesota Duluth. She served as a captain of the Bulldogs for two seasons and helped lead UMD to a berth in the 2007 NCAA championship game, earning a spot on the Frozen Four All-Tournament team. Her 84 career goals are the seventh-most all-time in Minnesota Duluth history and she was top-3 on the team in scoring all four years of her career.
Koizumi helped lead Team USA to a gold medal at the 2008 IIHF Women's World Championships and also represented her country at the 2007 Four Nations Cup. From 2009 through 2015, she spent time in the Canadian Women's Hockey League with the Montreal Stars and Boston Blades, captaining the Blades for a season and helping them to Clarkson Cup wins in 2013 and 2015.
Most recently, Koizumi was a member of the Connecticut Whale of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), which was founded in 2015. During her only season with the Whale, she served as team captain and also scored the first goal in the history of the NWHL.
Taylor Ham just finished her first season as assistant coach of Connecticut College women’s ice hockey. The Camels finished the 2022-2023 season at 12-12-1, placing 5th in the NESCAC. The group had one second-team all-conference player, one all-sportsmanship player, and saw twelve girls land on the winter all-NESCAC academic team.
