Women's Hockey's Crowell Takes Head Coaching Position at Minnesota Duluth

After five years with the Crimson, women’s ice hockey associate coach Maura Crowell is set to become the head coach at the University of Minnesota Duluth following the departure of Bulldogs' head coach Shannon Miller.

The hiring was a long time coming according to Crowell, as the job opened in March when Miller stepped down. Crowell was interviewed over the phone for the position, and she visited the Minnesota Duluth campus following the NCAA championship game in Minneapolis.

“Within a week [of visiting campus], I had taken the job,” Crowell said. “There was a good amount of interest from both sides…and things happened quickly.”

During her tenure at Harvard, the Crimson netted three Ivy League titles, an Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament championship, and three NCAA tournament appearances.

Crowell has not only served as the associate head coach for the Crimson; she was also the head of the program last season. Serving as both associate coach and interim head coach last year when Katey Stone headed the United States 2014 Olympic team, Crowell tallied 23 wins and led the team to the semifinals of the ECAC—all without the help of standouts Lyndsey Fry, Michelle Picard, and Josephine Pucci, who all joined Stone on the U.S. Olympic team. The Harvard team went on to win the Ivy League title that year and made an appearance in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals.

“That was a big deal—getting the reins of a Division I program and having success last year,” Crowell said. “It definitely strengthen[ed] the resume and built confidence in my ability to be the head coach of a team on that level.”

Following Stone’s return to Cambridge, the team made a run to the championship game of the NCAA tournament, falling to Minnesota, 4-1, in the final.

Prior to her career at Harvard, Crowell served as the head coach at UMass Boston, where she led the Beacons to the ECAC tournament semifinals and became the winningest coach in UMass Boston history. While there, she also coached 11 all-conference players.

In her five years with the Crimson, Crowell became an integral part of the team, not only coaching in Stone’s absence but also becoming a fixture on the bench. Prior to her arrival, Harvard hadn’t gone to the NCAA tournament since the 2004 season.

“In my three years here she’s been the rock on the team,” junior forward Miye D’Oench said. “She’s so comforting and fun loving. Every day she brings so much energy to the rink and to the team, and it’s definitely a huge loss. But we wish her the best of luck as a team.”

The Minnesota Duluth hockey program has been and will likely continue to be a force to be reckoned with following the addition of Crowell. The team has gone to the NCAA Frozen Four seven times in the last 15 years and has been crowned champion five of those seven times. The team boasts over two dozen international Olympians among its alumni.

“My expectations are high,” Crowell said. “Obviously UMD has a storied history of winning and succeeding as well. We’ll have to see how the team and current roster plays out, but right now I’m just focusing on the process and rejuvenating the team out there.”

Crowell will be taking over a team that went 20-12-5 last season and reached the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs before ultimately losing to Bemidji State. The loss put the Bulldogs out of the race for an NCAA Tournament berth.

Looking back at the team she is leaving behind, Crowell acknowledged that she has built strong ties with both the coaching staff and the student athletes. She stated that the aspect which she will miss the most is the work ethic and drive of the student-athletes. In turn, her presence alone will be missed by many.

“In practices, I’ll miss her presence and her sense of humor and the amount of fun she has out there with us,” D’Oench said. “In games, I’ll miss the steady communication and the direct way about her that we really need during games. Each game is different with every coach and I think she’s consistently brought a lot to the table.”

—Staff writer Ariel Smolik-Valles can be reached at asmolikvalles@college.harvard.edu.