In the 14 years since Katie (King) Crowley arrived at The Heights the Boston College women’s hockey team has undergone a transformation. From a sub-.500 team when she arrived as an assistant coach to a national power 10 years after becoming head coach, Crowley has established the Eagles as the East’s preeminent team and one of the elite programs in the nation. 

The three-time U.S. Olympian has one goal in site for her Boston College teams: the NCAA Championship.

In her 10 seasons as head coach, Crowley has guided BC teams to the team’s first-ever NCAA Championship game (2016), six NCAA Frozen Fours (2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017), four Hockey East regular-season titles (2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17), three Hockey East tournament titles (2011, 2016, 2017) and five Beanpot titles (2009, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017).

Her players have been just as prolific, earning the 2015 Patty Kazmaier Award, 11 Patty Kazmaier Award Finalist nods, 12 All-America honors, five of the last nine Hockey East Players of the Year awards and four conference rookies of the year awards, in addition to 32 spots on Hockey East All-Star teams since 2008. 

At the international level, Crowley’s BC teams have featured three United States Olympians, 10 members of the United States’ IIHF World Championship squads, 38 selections to U.S. Four Nations Cup rosters, 24 nods on U.S. Under-22 Select Teams and 22 players on IIHF Under-18 World Championship squads (19 Americans, three Canadians). Additionally, both Crowley, her associate head coach – Courtney Kennedy, herself a two-time Olympian – and assistant coach Alison Quandt Westgate have coached the U.S. U18 squad at the IIHF World Championships.   

In the last three years, 17 Eagles – past, present and future – have represented the United States or Canada in international competition, including seven players on the gold-medal winning 2016 and 2017 IIHF World Championship teams, five members of the 2016 U.S. Under-22 Team, four members of the U.S.’ gold-medal winning teams at the IIHF Women’s Under-18 World Championships, one member of 2016 Canada’s National Development Team and two members of Canada’s Under-18 Team at the IIHF Women’s Under-18 World Championships. 

Between 2010-11 and 2015-16, the Eagles improved upon the previous campaign every year to become one of the most dominant teams in the nation. After establishing a new program record for wins (22) in 2008-09, her 2010-11 program set a new mark at 24, which was then eclipsed in 2012-13 with 27 wins. That mark was once again re-established in 2014-15 when the Eagles posted 34 wins and then once-again shattered in 2015-16 when the Eagles went 40-1-0 on the year, the second-best final record in NCAA history.  

At the conference level, the 2011-12 squad established a new program record for Hockey East wins with 15 victories, besting the 2008-09 team’s total of 14. That mark has been extended four straight years: 17 wins in 2012-13, 18 wins in 2013-14 and 20 – as part of an undefeated 20-0-1 season – in 2014-15 before BC posted a perfect conference record of 24-0-0 in 2015-16 season when the league schedule was expanded. The Eagles set the Hockey East record with a 52-game undefeated record in league play (51-0-1) between Feb. 15, 2014 and Oct. 14, 2016, and the team also holds the conference record for consecutive wins at 27. 

In 2015-16, Crowley’s Eagles re-wrote many NCAA records en route to a near perfect season as the Eagles broke NCAA records for assists (379) and points (592) in a season. BC’s 40 wins were the second-highest single-season total in NCAA history, and the team’s 213 goals were the fourth most in a year. Defensively, BC posted 14 shutouts – a school record – and ranked third nationally in team defense, allowing 1.24 goals per game. BC led the nation in scoring average (5.20 goals per game) and scoring margin (3.92 goal differential). Boston College claimed the Hockey East regular-season and tournament championships, and also the Beanpot, and was ranked No. 1 – with a 40-game winning streak – for the second half of the campaign. 

A program-record three Eagles earned All-America honors, and the same three players – senior Alex Carpenter, sophomore Megan Keller and senior Haley Skarupa – were Patty Kazmaier Award finalists. Carpenter was the runner-up for the award after leading the nation in scoring with a program-record 88 points on 43 goals and 45 assists, both also single-season BC records. Skarupa ranked third nationally in scoring with 79 points (35 goals, 44 assists), while Keller was the nation’s top-scoring defenseman with 52 points (12 goals, 40 assists). At the conclusion of the season, Crowley was honored as the ACHA Women’s Ice Hockey Division I Coach of the Year by her peers for the second straight year. 

Last year, Crowley had one of her best coaching efforts of her career. After losing three standing members of the U.S. National Team to graduation – as part of the six-member, then-winningest class in program history – and introducing a freshman class of seven to the fold, Crowley and her staff again led the Eagles back to the Frozen Four in the face of many detractors. Injuries and personnel losses deepened the team effort needed throughout the season, with only three regular defensemen available the last two weekends of the regular season. Nevertheless, Boston College earned its fourth-straight Hockey East regular-season title, its second-straight Hockey East Tournament crown and another Beanpot title. 

Entering the 2017 Hockey East Tournament Championship game, BC had the potential to either host an NCAA Quarterfinal, or miss the NCAA Tournament entirely depending on the game’s result and other games nationally. The Eagles won the conference tournament and once again hosted the first round of the NCAA Tournament, topping a St. Lawrence team that was ranked in the Top 3 for much of the season, 6-0 in dominant fashion. BC then advanced to the national semifinal against No. 1 Wisconsin, and kept the overwhelmingly favorited Badgers off the board for the first 59:43 of the game before falling in the final seconds. 

At the end of the season, the Eagles claimed a final ranking of No. 3 and boasted the nation’s fourth-best offense and third-best defense. Keller was the first-ever defenseman to be voted Hockey East Player of the Year, and went on to claim Patty Kazmaier Award Finalist and First-Team All-America honors for the second-straight season. 

Crowley initially arrived at The Heights as an assistant coach in August 2004, and after serving as the Eagles’ lieutenant for four seasons, was promoted to head coach in May 2007. As an assistant, she helped guide a consistently sub-.500 team to top echelon of programs nationally. In 2006-07, the Eagles played in their first NCAA Tournament, advancing to the Frozen Four for the first time in team history before losing to Minnesota Duluth in double overtime.

In 2007-08, Crowley’s first season at the helm, the Eagles posted a 14-13-7 record, one point out of the Hockey East Tournament. The next year in 2008-09, BC went 22-9-5, won the Beanpot, advanced to the Hockey East Championship game and earned the school’s second NCAA Tournament berth. The nation took notice of the Eagles’ rise, and junior goaltender Molly Schaus and junior forward Kelli Stack earned the Eagles’ first-ever All-America honors. Additionally, Schaus was Boston College’s first-ever Patty Kazmaier Award finalist, earning a spot among the nation’s top 10 players. Stack earned her second conference player of the year award. 

Crowley’s association with the United States’ Olympic Team grew in 2010 when a pair of her players – Schaus and Stack – were named to the squad that competed in Vancouver Olympic Games, becoming the Eagles’ first-ever Olympians in women’s hockey. While the pair of All-Americans was away for the year, BC went 8-17-10 on the ice. 

The 2010-11 season saw Crowley guide the Eagles to a 24-7-6 mark – tying BC’s win record – en route to their first women’s Hockey East title in school history. The return of Schaus and Stack for their senior seasons strengthened an already talented lineup and helped propel BC to its second Frozen Four in four seasons. The fourth-seeded Eagles faced defending national champion Wisconsin in the national semifinal where BC erased a two-goal deficit in the third period before the Badgers’ last-second goal ended the monumental season. Boston College celebrated Stack as a Top 3 Finalist – and Schaus as a Top 10 Finalist – for the Patty Kazmaier Award. Stack also became the first-ever player – male or female – to win three Hockey East Player of the Year awards. 

Behind a 24-10-3 mark in 2011-12, the Eagles returned to the Frozen Four for the second straight season and for the third time overall. Three BC players were named to the Hockey East All-Rookie team: Alex Carpenter, Emily Field and Emily Pfalzer, while sophomore Taylor Wasylk joined Stack and Schaus on the National Team at the IIHF World Championships. 

Crowley’s Eagles set a new school wins mark in 2012-13, going 27-7-3 overall, including a 17-2-2 mark in league play. A third consecutive trip to the Frozen Four capped the season where the Eagles fell to top-ranked Minnesota in overtime. Carpenter had a dazzling year, setting school records for points (70), assists (38), plus/minus (+46) and consecutive games with a point (24) on her way to All-America accolades and New England and Hockey East Player of the Year honors. 

The 2014 Olympics in Sochi saw Carpenter off with Team USA – where she was the squad’s second-youngest player and top goal-scorer (4) on her way to a silver medal alongside Schaus and Stack – but the Eagles didn’t lose a beat back in Chestnut Hill. BC went a familiar 27-7-3, but improved to 18-2-1 in Hockey East play. The team won the Beanpot and the Hockey East regular-season title and advanced to the Hockey East Tournament championship game. However, the Eagles were prevented from advancing to their fourth consecutive Frozen Four when eventual national champion Clarkson defeated them in the NCAA quarterfinals.  

The Eagles were a powerhouse in 2014-15, earning the program’s first-ever No. 1 ranking in early November as they started the season unbeaten in their first 28 games, going 27-0-1 – including a program-best 25-game winning streak. The nation’s best offense was paced by Patty Kazmaier Award winner Carpenter – who once again set a BC single-season scoring record with a nation-leading 81 points – and junior Haley Skarupa, whose 71 points marked the nation’s third-highest total. The Eagles averaged 5.00 goals per game and allowed only 1.21 goals per contest – fourth-best mark nationally – as freshman goaltender Katie Burt led the nation in goals against average (1.11). After winning the Hockey East regular-season title for the second straight year – and posting the conference’s first undefeated season (20-0-1) since 2007-08 – the Eagles advanced to the program’s sixth Frozen Four and third in the last four years. However, the Eagles drew cross-town rival Harvard in the national semifinal – one of only two teams to defeat the Eagles all season – and saw their best-ever season come to an end. BC had the nation’s most potent offense, one of its stingiest defenses and out-scored its opponents by a nation’s best 3.79 goals per game.

At the end of the 2014-15 season, Crowley was honored with her first national coach of the year honor as the Eagles claimed the nation’s number one ranking for much of the season and Carpenter earned the program’s first-ever Patty Kazmaier Award as the nation’s top women’s ice hockey player. 

Crowley was a member of the Women’s National Team that won its first-ever gold medal at the 2005 IIHF World Championship. As a standing member of the U.S. National Team from 1997 to 2006, she also competed in the Four Nations Cup, World Championship Tournaments and the first three Winter Olympics when women’s ice hockey was an official event. Crowley won a gold medal in the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan; a silver medal in the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City and a bronze at the 2006 Games in Turin, Italy. She took home five consecutive silver medals in the World Championships (1997, 1999-2001, 2004) and a gold medal in 2005 with Team USA. 

A prolific scorer, Crowley’s 14 career Olympic goals – including a hat trick in the 2006 bronze-medal game – are tied for the Team USA lead, and her 23 career Olympic points are third-most among American women. 

Crowley remains a Team USA legend. She retired after the 2006 Winter Olympics after scoring 265 career points and still ranks third among all players with 210 international appearances.  In 2009, she and her 1998 Olympic teammates were enshrined in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. 

Crowley has worked with many national teams. The Eagles’ skipper was named head coach of the 2010 Under-18 National Team that captured a silver medal at the IIHF World Championship.  A year prior to that, she served as an assistant coach for the Under-18 National Team – which won gold at the IIHF World Championship in Germany – and the U-18 Select Team.  In 2006, she worked with the Under-22 Select Team. She has also worked as a lecturer, coach and instructor at numerous hockey camps throughout New England. 

While a student at Brown, Crowley earned ECAC’s Ice Hockey Player of the Year in 1997 and Ivy League Player of the Year three times. She is the Bears’ all-time leading scorer with 206 points, racking up 123 goals and 83 assists in 100 career games. Crowley served as team captain as a junior and senior.

Crowley also lettered in softball while at Brown and served as a three-time team captain. She garnered Ivy League Player of the Year in 1996 and the Ivy League Pitcher of the Year in 1997. She is a Hall of Fame inductee for both hockey and softball at Brown.

The Salem, N.H., native graduated from Brown in 1997 with a B.A. in Organizational Behavior and Management. She earned her Master’s degree in administrative studies from Boston College in 2016. Crowley’s alma mater awarded her an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in 2011. 

She married Ted Crowley, a former BC men’s hockey player and 1992 U.S. Olympian, in the summer of 2010. The couple has one daughter, Camryn (4).