Ice Hockey Opens 2025-26 Season Thursday

Syracuse vs. No. 6 Minnesota Duluth : September 25 (6 p.m.) | September 26 (6 p.m.)
Live Stream: FloHockey
Live Stats: Click here

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Syracuse Links: Notes | News | Roster | Schedule
Minnesota Duluth Links: Notes | News | Roster | Schedule

Puck Drop
- Syracuse will host sixth-ranked Minnesota Duluth in the season opener on Thursday, Sept. 25. Puck drop for game one is set for 6 p.m. Game two will be Sept. 26 at 6 p.m. on Friday. Both games will be streamed live on FloHockey with live stats available on Cuse.com.
-Britni Smith begins her fourth season as head coach, alongside Heather Farrell as associate head coach and will serve as the acting head coach this season. Farrell also enters her fourth season with the team. New assistant coaches Jordan Lipson and Dan Ringwald join the Orange for their first year.
- The 18th season of Syracuse Ice Hockey will begin at home for the second year in a row.
-Both games will be played at Tennity Ice Pavilion.

SMITH TO REPRESENT TEAM CANADA IN 2026 Winter Olympics
- Syracuse University women's ice hockey head coach Britni Smith has been named as an assistant coach for Hockey Canada for the upcoming Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
- Smith will remain with the Syracuse team in a leadership and support role for the 2025-26 season while also fulfilling her responsibilities with Hockey Canada. Associate head coach Heather Farrell will serve as acting head coach for the upcoming season.
- Canada will play in Pool A for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games with Finland, Switzerland, Czechia, and the United States. Canada opens action on Thursday, February 5 against Finland with a 3:10 p.m. ET puck drop at Milano Rho Arena in Milan, Italy.
- Smith and Hockey Canada took silver at the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship in Czechia in April. Canada went 3-0-1 in pool play, falling only to the United States. The two met again in the Gold Medal Round in an overtime classic.
- Smith was with Hockey Canada during the 2024-25 Rivalry Series as well, helping the Canadian side to a 3-2 series win over the United States, capped by a 3-1 win on February 8 in Prince Edward Island.

O CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN
- Prior to the 2025-26 season opener, head coach Britni Smith announced the team captains and assistant captains for the season.
- Senior Sami Gendron and junior Nea Tervonen earn the honor of team captain for this season. Both earning their first letters and will be wearing a C on their jersey.
- Maya D'Arcy, Heidi Knoll and Jackson Kinsler were selected as assistant captains. This is D'Arcy's and Knoll's second year serving as assistants. Kinsler earns the first letter of her career.

NEW COACHING STAFF ADDITIONS
- During the offseason, Syracuse University women's ice hockey head coach Britni Smith has announced Jordan Lipson and Dan Ringwald as assistant coaches. Lipson joins the Orange after two seasons at Robert Morris University while Ringwald comes to Syracuse after a Hall of Fame career at RIT.
- A four-time NCAA Division III National Champion, Lipson spent the last two seasons at Robert Morris as an assistant coach, helping the Colonials in all aspects of the program. Helped oversee the recruitment of student-athletes that fit the program's culture and core values. Robert Morris made the AHA/CHA Tournament in each season, including a first-round bye during the 2023-24 season. Off the ice, Lipson spearheaded the Big Sister, Little Sister program, pairing with the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite program, coordinating Little Sister starters for every regular season home game for the Colonials. Lipson helped pursue and coordinate the team's community service events as well.
- No stranger to the AHA, Lipson was an assistant coach at Lindenwood University for the 2022-23 season and was later tabbed as the interim head coach for Spring 2023. During that year, Lipson oversaw and developed the defense and goaltender units both on and off the ice, creating scout sheets, while coordinating team travel, helping maintain the budget, and creating and facilitating an environment for student-athlete mental well-being.
- Lipson broke into coaching at the NCAA level at Williams College, helping lead the Ephs to their second-ever NESCAC Championship. Lipson helped develop practice plans, game strategies, all while Williams went 55-31-14 in between 2017-2022.
- As a student-athlete at SUNY Plattsburgh, Lipson played in 115 games for the Cardinals, racking 45 goals and 58 assists for 103 points. Lipson tallied 17 power play goals, including 15 across her junior and senior seasons. Her 10 power play goals in 2015-16 ranked second in Division III that season. During her four seasons in Plattsburgh, the Cardinals won 111 games, suffering just five losses and enduring four ties. Lipson was a member of four National Championship teams, a feat accomplished by just six student-athletes in NCAA women's ice hockey history.
- A Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Athletics Hall of Famer, Ringwald brings coaching and playing experience at all levels. Ringwald played professionally from 2010 until May 2015, suiting up for Bad Nauheim Rote Teufel in the DEL2, the Oklahoma City Barons of the AHL and the Stockton Thunder in the ECHL. Ringwald also reviewed game footage for the Edmonton Oilers Player Development Program and was a player representative for the Professional Hockey Players' Association.
- A four-year member of the RIT men's ice hockey program, Ringwald twice served as a team captain. He played in 145 games during his collegiate career, scoring 21 goals and 104 assists, an RIT Division I team record. A three-time Atlantic Hockey Association First team selection, he was named as the league's Best Defenseman in 2010. That season, RIT captured the AHA regular season and postseason championships and a berth in the NCAA Frozen Four. The Tigers went 91-48-1 during his career. A second-team USCHO.com Second Team pick, Ringwald won RIT's Dan Barrows Fan's Choice, Art Thomas Teammate, and Tim Dorcik Best Defenseman Awards.

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Players Mentioned

Maya D'Arcy

Sami Gendron

Jackson Kinsler

Heidi Knoll

Nea Tervonen

Syracuse University Athletics