Eliza Beaudin takes a shot against Salem State this season. Elmira College Athletics
Eliza Beaudin recently wrapped up a successful four-year college hockey career at Elmira College college that included reaching the Frozen Four and being a finalist for a national award.
Now the Lewiston native is ready to teach and coach the next generation of hockey players.
Next year, Beaudin will be a psychology teacher and a coach for the girls hockey and soccer teams at the Canterbury School — a prep school in New Milford, Connecticut.
“You realize how much hockey has impacted your life — I have played hockey since I was four — so seeing hockey not in it is pretty hard, and it didn’t seem realistic to me,” Beaudin said. “So I was looking to keep hockey in my life and continue to help the younger generation, continue to keep myself in the game.”
Beaudin, a forward, went to Hebron Academy and was a three-sport (soccer, hockey and softball) star for the Lumberjacks, including making the varsity hockey team in eighth grade.
She said Hebron prepared her for college, and she credits her success on the ice to her coaches there. Her time at Hebron also should help her transition to coaching at teaching at the prep school level.
“I can relate to those girls, and those girls can relate to me a lot,” Beaudin said. “I just think (I am) someone who had success in college, and played for a really good hockey team and lived the life they are probably looking to live. (I want) to give them the connections and pathways, help those girls have those conversations. It’s something they can look up to and strive for. Hopefully, they can get there, either in hockey, life or in school.”
Eliza Beaudin lifts the trophy after Elmira College defeated Castleton State in the NEHC Championship game March 5. Elmira College Athletics
Tim Crowley, Elmira coach, said Beaudin has a bright future.
“She will be very successful in anything she does,” Crowley said. “Whether it’s being our first-line left-winger or working at a prep school next year. She’s a kid who was successful in the classroom; she’s successful in anything that she does.”
Crowley adds that Beaudin going into coaching is a natural transition because of her passion for the sport and her leadership abilities.
Beaudin was a prolific player at Elmira. A two-year captain, she was the Soaring Eagles’ second-leading scorer with 18 goals and 24 assists in 30 games this season. She was named the New England Hockey Conference’s Player of the Year and a CCM Hockey/American Collegiate Hockey Association’s Division III first-team All-American.
Being NEHC Player of the Year also made Beaudin a finalist for the Laura Hurd Award, which is given to the top player in NCAA Division III and named after the former Elmira College standout who died in 2006 in a car accident soon after winning the Division III player of the year award in 2005.
Beaudin said she takes pride in being a finalist for the award, which this year was won by Callie Hoff, a forward from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.
“(Hurd) is the leader in points (237) for our program; she holds a lot of records in the record book here, a four-year All-American, just an insane player,” Beaudin said. “She was just an even better person. So, just being nominated for that award, I didn’t win it, but I felt like winning it just being nominated.”
Eliza Beaudin, a Lewiston native, scored 17 goals and had 24 assists this season for Elmira College. Elmira College Athletics
In her four years at Elmira, Beaudin racked up 119 points (58 goals and 61 assists), which ranks 11th in the program’s history.
FROZEN FOUR RUN
This season, Beaudin led the Soaring Eagles (25-4-1) to the NCAA Division III Frozen Four.
“I can’t do anything alone — hockey is a team sport, you have to rely on your teammates,” Beaudin said. “We were a very young team, but we were a very talented team, and there were a lot of girls who played with a lot of heart. That goes a long way going deep in the playoffs.”
Beaudin said playing in high-pressure games in holiday tournaments throughout the season sparked the Soaring Eagles’ Frozen Four run.
“Both holiday tournaments, we play one at Thanksgiving and one closer to Christmas and the New Year,” Beaudin said. “In those tournaments, we got a big win over Plattsburgh (State) that gave us some confidence, and some belief that against (nationally) ranked opponents, we can win those games. Each team we played was a one-goal differential, whether that was a win or a loss. Those games are the type of games that you remember when you win big games like that, especially against Plattsburgh in overtime.”
Eliza Beaudin will be a teacher and coach at the Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut, next year. Elmira College Athletics
The Soaring Eagles defeated No. 1 Plattsburgh State 4-3 in the consolation game of the Panther/Cardinal Classic on Nov. 28. Elmira lost to No. 2 Middlebury 2-1 the day before.
At the Norwich East-West Classic, Elmira lost 4-3 to No. 4 Plattsburgh on Dec. 11 and tied No. 8 Adrian College 2-2 in the consolation game Dec. 12.
In the Frozen Four, Elmira lost to No. 1 Middlebury again and then to No. 2 Plattsburgh State in the consolation game two weeks ago. Both games were 3-2 finals.
Crowley said one of the things he’ll look back and remember about Beaudin’s time on the ice is how clutch she was in the postseason. She scored four goals and had six assists in the NEHC tournament, and in the national semifinals her goal the game against Middlebury tied the game at 1-1.
“I will remember the big goals she scored, getting her 100th (career) point on a breakaway goal,” Crowley said. “She produced in some key moments, especially scoring our first goal against Middlebury in the final four, and how happy the group was.
“That’s what I will remember, the big goals she got throughout her career and having that same (two arms in the air) celebration every time.”
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