Kassi Abbott begins her second season as an assistant coach with the Nichols College women’s ice hockey program in 2022-23.
In her first season 'On the Hill' in 2021-22, the Bison established program records for wins (16), fewest losses (9), and consecutive wins (6). They won the second playoff game in program history with a 3-2 OT triumph against Salve Regina and closed the season with single-season records for goals/game (3.23), goals (84), assists (114), points (198), PP goals (22), and fewest goals against (47). Two student-athletes – Alicia Hunks and Victoria Bakopanos – received Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) All-Conference honors while 12 more were named to the academic all-conference team.
Abbott was a four-year member of the Plattsburgh State women’s ice hockey program (2015-19) and backstopped the Cardinals to the 2019 NCAA Division III National Championship. After appearing in just six games over her first two seasons in upstate New York, Abbott combined to post a 43-4-1 record during her final two years of collegiate competition.
Abbott was named to the Northeast Women’s Hockey League (NEWHL) Second Team in 2017-18, when she went 14-2-1 and ranked second in the nation in winning pct. (.853), fifth in goals against average (GAA) (1.17), and seventh in both save pct. (.950) and shutouts (seven). The Medford, Massachusetts native was named conference goalie of the week on four occasions.
As a senior, Abbott posted a 29-2-0 record and led the nation in GAA (0.78), save pct. (.956), winning pct. (.935), and shutouts (14) as the Cardinals won the national championship. She was a CCM/American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) All-America First Team pick, an All-United States College Hockey Online (USCHO) Second Team selection, NEWHL co-Goaltender of the Year, and a Google Cloud Academics All-America Division III Women's At-Large Third Team selection. Abbott was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team after recording a 4-0 shutout in the NCAA Championship game against Hamline.
Abbott – who was featured in Sports Illustrated’s ‘Faces in the Crowd’ on April 2, 2019 – finished her distinguished career No. 2 all-time in NCAA Division III women’s ice hockey history in career GAA (.095), No. 3 in career winning pct. (.907; 48-4-2), and No. 10 in shutouts (23).
The Bison open the 2021-22 campaign Friday night when they host Neumann University at June Rockwell Levy Rink in Harrisville, R.I. at 7:40 p.m.
