Laura Halldorson (born January 12, 1963) is an American retired women's

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the go ...

player and head coach. She was the first head coach of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers Women's Hockey team, leading the new team to national prominence in her ten seasons. Her Minnesota record was 278–67–22, a

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage or Copeland score is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the to ...

of .787. During that time, the Gophers won three

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

and four

Western Collegiate Hockey Association The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college ice hockey conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated as a me ...

(WCHA) championships, averaged 28 wins per season, and appeared in eight of ten national championship tournaments.

Playing career

She played for the

Princeton Tigers women's ice hockey The Princeton Tigers women's ice hockey team represents Princeton University in the ECAC Hockey conference in the NCAA Division I women's ice hockey. They play at the Hobey Baker Memorial Rink. In the 2019–2020 season, they won their first ECA ...

program with Patty Kazmaier. In addition, she played with Cindy Curley and Lauren Apollo on the earliest U.S. National teams, including at the 1987 World Women's Hockey Tournament.

Coaching career

After working on her thesis at Princeton, Halldorson coached girls'

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

through the Wayzata School District in

Wayzata, Minnesota Wayzata ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 4,434 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A suburb of the Twin Cities, Wayzata is located about west of Minneapolis al ...

. In 1987, Princeton head coach Bob Ewell contacted Halldorson and asked her to become an assistant coach with the Tigers' program. Halldorson later became a head coach at

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine, United States. Founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, it was renamed Waterville College in 1821. The donations of Christian philanthropist Gardner ...

. As head coach of the White Mules, the team was one of only two non-Division I schools in the 12-team Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference. In 1995–96, Halldorson led the White Mules to a 12-9-1 overall record. On November 2, 1997, Halldorson coached her first game with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The team played in front of a women’s intercollegiate hockey record crowd of 6,854. Halldorson was successful in leading the Gophers to winning its inaugural game. The result was an 8-0 triumph over Augsburg College. In the postseason, the Gophers finished fourth in the first-ever women’s ice hockey national championship. Halldorson was named the inaugural AHCA Coach of the Year in 1998. On November 2, 2002, Halldorson won her 200th career game. Her last season with the Minnesota Golden Gophers was in 2006–07. Halldorson led the Golden Gophers to a third-place finish in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular season. In the postseason, her team defeated Bemidji State in the first round. In the semi-finals, the Gophers defeated Minnesota Duluth, 3-2 in overtime to advance to their fifth-straight WCHA Championship game. The WCHA championship would be Halldorson’s last game as Gophers coach. It was a 3-1 loss to Wisconsin in the title game. Halldorson’s record was 23-12-1 overall and 17-10-1 in conference office. Despite losing the WCHA championship, the Gophers were ranked ninth overall nationally. Five of the players she coached at Minnesota would later become Olympians: Natalie Darwitz, Courtney Kennedy, Lyndsay Wall, Kelly Stephens, and Krissy Wendell.

Coaching record

Awards and honors

*1996 ECAC Co-Coach of the Year honors *New England Hockey Writers’ 1996 Coach of the Year *3× AHCA Coach of the Year (1998, 2002, 2004) *2011 AHCA Women's Ice Hockey Founders Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halldorson, Laura 1963 births Living people Colby College faculty Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey coaches People from Wayzata, Minnesota Ice hockey players from Minnesota Ice hockey people from Hennepin County, Minnesota Princeton Tigers women's ice hockey players American women academics

Playing career

Coaching career

Coaching record

Awards and honors

See also

References