Established in 1999, The University of Rhode Island’s women’s club hockey team boasts a relatively young presence on campus.
Since its founding, the team has been able to capture nine Eastern Collegiate Women’s Hockey League conference championships, but in year 24, they are looking for new beginnings.
This comes in the form of first-year head coach Nikki Friesen, who’s no stranger to the ice.
“I think our first practice we were all a little nervous”, third-year Emily Jedson said, “She’s, you know, played at such a high level, Harvard D1, so it was a little intimidating to get out on the ice with her . I think just going in we were looking for a clean slate… Someone to really just rally the team together.”
Since day one, Friesen has had no problem doing just that and then some for this Rams squad, according to Jedson. Jedson’s former feeling of nervousness has morphed into a surge of excitement and anticipation for her and the rest of the team.
“She warmed up to us really quickly and we warmed right up to her,” said Jedson. “I think that she’s exceeded our expectations… We’re all just so excited to be here everyday of the week.”
From growing up in Oregon and Colorado, to playing in Massachusetts and Missouri to coaching in Connecticut, Freisen’s journey has winded through all levels of the sport.
Friesen recalled her humble beginnings, a time where coaching or playing at the collegiate level was only an afterthought.
“I grew up playing boys hockey and then kind of realized, like hey, women’s college hockey was a thing,” Friesen said.
As a young hockey star, opportunity arose for Friesen to take her talents to the next level when she was recognized at various tournaments, catching the eye of scouts at Harvard University.
A successful four-year career at Harvard was tainted only by a knee injury, which required surgery. This gave Friesen an extra year of eligibility, which she would exercise at Lindenwood University, before graduating in 2019.
As a west coast child who spent most of her college years at Harvard, Friesen said hockey has brought her to places that she couldn’t imagine. Even after her playing days, opportunity called, this time as a coach.
After Friesen’s college career would come to a close in 2019, she found herself back home in Colorado, initially reluctant to take the next step in her journey, before deciding, “You know what, I just want to send it on this coaching thing.”
It was once again time for her to pack her bags for the east coast, when Sacred Heart University would open the door into her coaching career in 2020. Ultimately, though, she decided to step away from coaching after just a year in the program.
Back at home once again, following her year at Sacred Heart, Friesen would dabble in coaching youth hockey for two years, before completely stepping away from the game. Prompting yet another move shortly after, this time to Rhode Island, a sudden realization would take Friesen to where she is today.
“You know what, I can’t imagine my life without hockey,” Friesen said.
Just as Friesen has been able to do for the players, she says URI has not only met, but exceeded her expectations as a coach.
“It’s been great,” Friesen said. “I’m excited to be back with college hockey, and the girls have been awesome so far.”
The program is establishing a new kind of culture under coach Friesen.
“I think the program was going through a little bit of change, and definitely [an] influx,” Friesen said. “We’ve got a ton of new players on the team this year so we’re working on just establishing the culture that we want and the standards that we want.”
Jedson attested to the impact Friesen has had in her short time leading URI’s women’s hockey club, and the impact of the culture and standards Friesen was referring to.
“I think we’ve had a really great start to the season,” said Jedson. “She’s just taken our team a complete 180º since last year.”
Just over two months into Friesen’s tenure as head coach, the team feels that this budding era of URI women’s hockey is only beginning to take off. Friesen is not just satisfied with an excellent first impression, but is eagerly anticipating building upon what she has established early.
“One thing that I do try to carry into my coaching, is just always remembering my experience as a player,” Friesen said. “I know the struggles of wanting more ice time, I know the privilege of having plenty of ice time, and so I try to kind of keep that at the forefront.”
For Friesen, her experience as an athlete has helped fine-tune her philosophies as a coach.
“One of my biggest focuses is development”, Friesen said, “So making sure that, you know, up and down the lineup everybody is getting touches when the opportunity arises.”
Friesen further emphasized the importance of comradery and development throughout the entire roster.
“I think you can win games with, you know, five, six players,” Friesen said. “I don’t think you can win championships with five or six players…You win championships with an entire team”.
Friesen will continue to chase championships just as she did as a player at Harvard and Lindenwood, only this time from the bench. With her playing days behind her, Friesen hopes to find similar success as a coach, and has expressed optimism in doing so.
“We have, I think, a really good opportunity ahead of us,” Friesen said. “The players are doing a great job of buying into things that I’m asking for.”
For Freisen, it is going to take buy-in across the board to achieve the success that this team is hoping for, but Jedson and the rest of the team have reason to believe that she is right for the job. If her path to URI is any indication of how her time as URI’s head coach will go, the team knows they can expect a windy route to success.