Color of Hockey: 'Rising star' Koelzer excelling as 1st Black woman coach of NCAA team 

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog since 2012. Douglas joined NHL.com in 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, as part of NHL.com's celebration of Black History Month, he profiles Arcadia University women's hockey coach Kelsey Koelzer, the first Black woman to lead an NCAA hockey team.

COLMAR, Pa. -- Kelsey Koelzer had questions when she accepted the job to build an NCAA Division III women's hockey program from scratch at Arcadia University on Sept. 9, 2019.

"My initial qualms or nervousness my first year of coaching was just kind of wondering how much passion I truly would have for it and how much I would like it," she said. "But it's been so awesome, and at this point, I can't picture myself doing anything else."

Koelzer is the first Black woman to lead an NCAA hockey program. She has shaped Arcadia, located about 30 minutes north of Philadelphia, into a formidable program in a short period of time. The 29-year-old guided the Knights to their first Middle Atlantic Conference women's hockey championship in the program's third season with a 4-1 win against King's College on Feb. 7, 2024, going 15-10-0 and 13-7-0 in the MAC.

Arcadia is 16-3-3 this season, second in the eight-team conference (14-2-2), and 9-0-2 on the road.

"Kelsey has lived up to the expectations we had for her from Day 1," Arcadia athletic director Brian Granata said. "We saw a rising star in the industry, someone that certainly early on was young and inexperienced in her professional career, but we felt she had a tremendous upside. She obviously played at a high level and has a very good IQ and was invested in becoming a successful coach here at Arcadia, and that's really come to fruition."

Koelzer said her biggest challenge was recruiting elite players and convincing them to take a leap of faith and join something new.

"Luckily, I have quite a few of those players," she said. "They took a risk in coming to play for newer team, but they could understand the long-term goals we had as a group. It's nice that the seniors who started the program are here to reap the benefits of all of their hard work."

Players like senior forward Karahkwenhawe White said they were drawn to Arcadia by Koelzer's hockey journey and accomplishments. Koelzer grew up about 15 minutes from campus in Horsham, Pennsylvania, and was one of the few Black girls in the area who played hockey. She excelled at the sport and earned a scholarship to play for Princeton University's NCAA Division I women's team, where she had 100 points (39 goals, 61 assists) in 128 games from 2013-17.

Koelzer made history when she became the first Black woman selected No. 1 in the National Women's Hockey League Draft by the Metropolitan Riveters in 2016. The defenseman had 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 29 NWHL games, helped the Riveters win the league's Isobel Cup in 2017-18 and was the NWHL All-Star Game MVP that season.

White, from Mohawk Territory in Akwesasne, New York, leads Arcadia with 28 points (16 goals, 12 assists) in 22 games.

"I feel a big part of the reason why I went to Arcadia, especially because it was a first-year program, was her reputation," she said. "I knew she was such a smart hockey player and played at such a high level, and I knew she had great experience. It showed from the moment we came here on campus."

If Koezler had doubts about being able to transition from player to coach, Cara Morey, her coach at Princeton, didn't.

"She's a rock star," Morey said. "Her success isn't surprising because it takes about 3-4 years to get the kids in that you want and to get them playing the way you want them to play."

"She has a willingness to grow and learn. She has a very strong personality and, like, a very big, commanding presence, and always has, but there's so many things you have to learn about these young women, their personalities and how they respond, because not everybody responds the way you do. She's learned where to soften but not soften too much, because you don't want to lose that kind of instant respect, and you need a little bit of that intimidation factor at times."

Koelzer said she's mindful of her platform as the only Black woman leading an NCAA hockey program, knowing she's a role model and embracing it.

"I think this kind of proves that it wasn't a demographics hire, or something like that," Koelzer said. "This success has, I think, has kept doors open moving forward but also opened more doors for the next generation of Black women that are interested in the sport and have that experience.

"We're seeing such a great number of minority female players at the NCAA at all levels. It's really jumped up a good amount even since I've graduated. When those players are done playing, they're interested in taking that next step and further representing and being that role model."

Arcadia senior forward and captain Ariel Williamson said playing under Koelzer has led her to consider a coaching career.

"I don't think she inspired it, she solidified it for me that this would be something that I want to do in my future," Williamson said. "We've had some conversations about it, and she's, like, 'Go for it.'"