University Park, Pa. — Women’s hockey head coach Josh Brandwene has announced that Maurice "Mo" Stroemel and Gina Kearns have joined the Penn State coaching staff.
Stroemel, who was most recently the coach of Penn State’s club team the Lady Icers, has been named associate head coach. A former standout player at Boston University, Kearns comes to Hockey Valley from Neumann University, and will be an assistant coach as Penn State transitions to NCAA Division I for the 2012-13 season.
Stroemel was head coach of the Lady Icers for the past four seasons. He has been with the Penn State program since 1994, serving 17 seasons in multiple roles. Stroemel started as an assistant coach with the ACHA Division II men’s club team at Penn State. From 1996-2004 he served as the head coach of the Division II program before taking a role as an assistant coach for the ACHA Division I Penn State Icers. He has served as the Lady Icers coach since 2007, a team he coached to a record of 37-57-3.
"I have known Mo for 15 years as a colleague and friend, and I am grateful to have him on board," said Brandwene. "He has been a consistently positive influence on Penn State Hockey for almost two decades, and his passion for and commitment to Penn State Hockey will be instrumental in our success."
Stroemel coached the women’s team to a fifth place finish at the 2009-10 ACHA women’s division national tournament. He also lead the 2010-11 team to a fourth place finish at the Eastern Collegiate Women’s Hockey League Final Four. Honored numerous times as a coach, Stroemel guided the 2011 United States University Women’s Select Team as the head coach at the World University Games in Turkey.
In his three seasons as the assistant coach of the ACHA Division I Icers, the team went to the national championship game all three times. He coached under Joe Battista, current the Associate Athletic Director for the Ice Arena and Hockey Development, and Scott Balboni.
With the Division I program at Penn State, Stroemel led the team to a 131-62-11 record as head coach, guiding his team to the ACHA Division II national tournament four times. His successes earned him the honor of being named the ACHA Division II Northeast Region Coach of the Year twice. His career coaching record at Penn State is an impressive 168-119-14. He is a certified level three USA hockey coach. He lives in State College, Pa., with his wife Joan and his children Sarah and Tom.
A Norwood, Pa., native, Kearns comes as the former assistant coach of the Neumann University Knights. She coached there for two seasons, where the team went 16-7-4 this past season. A 2009 graduate of Boston University, Kearns majored in health and rehabilitation sciences and shined as a student-athlete. She became the all-time leading scorer for the Terriers, notching 52 goals and 50 assists, becoming the first player in program history to score more than 50 goals and tally over 100 points. She was the only three-year captain in school history.
"I am incredibly excited to welcome Gina to the Penn State Hockey family. Gina’s experience as a player in the first four years of a brand new college program, her outstanding leadership ability and coaching experience make her a terrific addition. She will be a fantastic role model for the women in our program."
Kearns played boys ice hockey at Interboro High School, where she was a senior captain, and totaled 121 points in 51 games, including 81 goals. She led Princeton Tiger Lilies to a bronze medal at 2005 USA Hockey U-19 Nationals.
The Penn State men’s and women’s ice hockey teams are slated to begin competition in the 2012-13 season as NCAA Division I independents. Conference affiliation for the Penn State women’s hockey program is to be determined.
Pegula Ice Arena is slated to open in the fall of 2013 and will be built on the corner of Curtin Road and University Drive, directly west of the Bryce Jordan Center. The new 200,000-square-foot, multi-purpose ice arena will be the only major rink within an 80-mile radius and will be on par with the best collegiate facilities in the country. It will include two ice sheets and other features that will allow it to be used for a broad range of campus and community activities, from commencement ceremonies to kinesiology classes to public skating sessions and camps for youth.