The NGHL is thrilled to be working with a dedicated and knowledgeable staff for our clinic on August 24, 2023. These current NCAA coaches run skills training, coach games, and lead seminars on recruitment and other helpful topics for the athletes.
Briggs comes to Morrisville from SUNY Cortland where he spent two seasons on the bench with the Red Dragons as assistant coach. During his time with Cortland, Briggs played a role in guiding the team to back-to-back appearances in the Northeast Women’s Hockey League (NEWHL) championship finals, registering 12 or more conference wins each season, including a 20-7 overall record and 14-4 conference slate in 2022-23.
Cortland ranked second overall within the league in several categories throughout the 2022-23 season, including goals scored, assists, goals per game, power play goals, power play percentage, penalty kill percentage, goals against average and led the league in save percentage. In the two seasons Briggs was part of the program, the Red Dragons compiled an overall record of 38 wins, 13 losses and one tie, while registering a 26-9-1 record in league play. At the conclusion of the 2021-22 season, Cortland was recognized by the NEWHL as the Coaching Staff of the Year.
Briggs is Level I USA Hockey Certified and was a 2022 National Camp Coach invitee.
Prior to joining the staff at Cortland, Briggs served as assistant coach for the Richland Rockies Women’s Hockey team from 2019-21 as well as the 16U Tier 2 Boys’ Valley Eagles and 18U Tier 2 Boys’ Skyland Kings.
Briggs played junior hockey in New Jersey and junior and semi-pro hockey in Scotland. He received his bachelor’s degree in coaching from Cortland in 2022. He also attended Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland where he studied sports coaching and development.
Aside from his coaching position, Briggs is also an Assistant Golf Professional at the Skaneateles Country Club.
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.
Allison Roethke joins the Pioneers as an assistant coach, bringing with her a year of coaching expertise and four years of collegiate playing experience to the bench.
In what was a highly sought after hire, Roethke joins the Pios alongside her collegiate teammate and new SHU assistant coach Abbie Ives. Both Roethke and Ives played at Quinnipiac from 2016-20 with Roethke appearing in 114 games in four seasons as both a forward and defenseman for the Bobcats. Roethke earned the coaches award her senior year after displaying tremendous growth on-and-off the ice in her four years at QU.
Roethke makes her return to Martire Family Arena after spending the 2022-23 season as an assistant coach for NEWHA rivals Post under Gretchen Silverman. Roethke also served as an Assistant Director of Athletic Communications during her time at Post.
A native of Buffalo, Minn., Roethke earned both a bachelor's degree in Communication and a master's in Elementary Education from Quinnipiac.
Josh Funk was named the first women's ice hockey head coach in program history at Hood College.
Funk served as the head coach at Division III Plymouth State from 2020-22. PSU opened his first season with a program-best three-game unbeaten streak (2-0-1) and capped the COVID-19 abbreviated year with a thrilling overtime win over Castleton in the season's last weekend. The Panthers posted three shutouts over their eight games.
Prior to Plymouth State, Funk was an assistant coach for the women's program at NCAA Division I Robert Morris University. His career also includes stops at Albert Lea (Minn.) High School, St. Catherine (Minn.) University, Sugar Land (Texas) Imperials and Miami (Ohio) University while he also filled numerous roles with Minnesota Hockey CCM High Performance programs. He is a USA Hockey Level 4 coach.
The Roseville, Minn. native served as an assistant women's hockey coach at D-III St. Catherine University in 2016-17 where he also taught in the Exercise Science program. He helped lead the Wildcats to their best record in seven years while also developing multiple All-MIAC selections.
Funk graduated from Gustavus Adolphus in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology with a minor in coaching. He holds USA Hockey Level 4 certification.
Jennifer MacAskill (M.S. 20) completed her third season as head women's ice hockey coach at Manhattanville College in 2023. MacAskill previously served as the program's top assistant coach from 2018 to 2020.
MacAskill led the Valiants to a 15-11-1 record in the 2022-23 campaign, making the UCHC Tournament for the third time in as many seasons with her at the helm. The Valiants would claim the No. 3 seed for the postseason and would also make it a third straight year under MacAskill with a postseason win as Manhattanville defeated No. 6 Arcadia 3-2 in overtime.
MacAskill's first season as head coach was abbreviated as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Over her two seasons as an assistant, MacAskill has assisted the program’s all-time wins leader and now-men’s head coach David Turco to a multitude of success. With her help, the Valiants qualified for the United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) Tournament both seasons, as the squad combined for a 34-16-5 overall record, including a 25-7-2 mark in UCHC play.
Prior to her arrival at Manhattanville, MacAskill played four years of Division I women’s hockey at Mercyhurst University from 2014-18, serving as team captain in her senior season. She helped the Lakers to two College Hockey America (CHA) conference championships as well as two NCAA Division I Women’s Ice Hockey Championship Tournament appearances during her sophomore and senior seasons. A native of Valley, Nova Scotia, MacAskill earned her bachelor’s in public health and a minor in psychology from Mercyhurst in 2018. She also earned a master’s degree in sports business management at Manhattanville in 2020.
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.
