Rennie Drafted by Connecticut Whale

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The Syracuse-to-professional pipeline continued to grow Wednesday night when the Connecticut Whale of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) drafted Savannah Rennie (East St. Paul, Manitoba) with the first pick of the third round (13th overall) of the 2020 NWHL Draft. Rennie is the second Orange to join the Whale following Allie LaCombe '15 signing a contract with Connecticut last season.

"The NWHL is a great league to grow the women's game and I'm thankful to be selected by Connecticut," Rennie said. "Thank you to the coaches, staff and my teammates from Syracuse who have helped prepare me for the next step in my hockey career."

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Moments ago the @connecticutwhale of the @nwhl.zone selected @savvyrennie44 with the first pick of the third round. We couldn't be more excited for her to continue her hockey career! 🍊

A post shared by Syracuse Hockey 🍊🏒 (@cuseice) on Apr 29, 2020 at 4:23pm PDT

A Second Team All-Conference honoree for the 2019-20 season, Rennie posted 26 goals and 39 assists through 120 career games, and her 23 points (8-15) during her senior season tied for second on the team. Rennie's performance helped 'Cuse score a program-best 105 goals and 275 points last season, and her seven points the year before helped the Orange claim the first College Hockey America (CHA) Tournament Title in program history.

"Savannah has worked very hard in her career to position herself to play at the next level, and the NWHL is a league I believe she can flourish in," head coach Paul Flanagan said. "Playing alongside and against the best players in North America will bring out the best in Savannah. Our Syracuse University program wishes nothing but the best for Sav and her future teammates with such an outstanding organization as the Connecticut Whale."

Here's two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and @UtahRoyals goalkeeper @nbarnhart to announce the 13th Overall Pick of the 2020 #NWHLDraft for @CTWhale_NWHL 🐳 @NWSL pic.twitter.com/iUpUvgwI94
— NWHL (@NWHL) April 29, 2020

Six Orange have signed with the NWHL since its inception: Jacquie Greco '13 (Buffalo Beauts), Margot Scharfe'14 (New York Riveters), Jessica Sibley '17 (Buffalo Beauts), Heather Schwarz '17 (Boston Pride), Brooke Avery '19 (Metropolitan Riveters), and LaCombe (Connecticut Whale). Other Orange to play professionally include Olympians Stefanie Marty '11 (Switzerland; Turin '06, Vancouver '10, Sochi '14) and Akane Hosoyamada '15 (Japan; PyeongChang '18), along with Allie Munroe '18 who plays for Djurgårdens IF of the Swedish Women's Hockey League. A full list of Orange who went on to play professionally can be seen here.

The NWHL features six teams competing in a 24-game season spanning from October to the beginning of March. The league was established in 2015 and serves as the top women's hockey league in North America.