The past two weekends in Boston were historic for women’s hockey, specifically for and thanks to two Deerfield girls hockey alumnae, Katie Guay ’01 and Molly Schaus ’06.
On Monday, February 4th Guay was one of four officials for the men’s Beanpot game between Boston College and Harvard at TD Garden. It was the first game in the 67-year history of the Boston city championship tournament that a female was on the ice officiating.
Guay is no stranger to the big stage or making history. She was the first woman to referee Division I men’s hockey games on a regular basis and now regularly calls men’s and women’s games for the ECAC. She was an official for the women’s hockey tournament at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang in 2018, and called a men’s game in Madison Square Garden.
As an ECAC official and with Harvard playing in the conference, Katie was picked by the ECAC league’s director for officiating, Paul Stewart to officiate the high-profile Beanpot game.
At Deerfield, Guay enjoyed a successful four-year career, earning All-New England Prep School honors after her senior season. She continued her hockey career at Brown University where she enjoyed another four-year career, earning team MVP honors and securing her name in the record books for most games played (128) and most goals in a game (5).
Guay was quoted in a US Hockey article saying, “There are many females that came before me that had the skills and abilities to get on the ice at a men’s game. They weren’t given the opportunity. I’m representing them when I do games like this and also creating paths for future females who aspire to work high-level hockey.”
Guay is joined by Deerfield hockey alumnae, Jessica LeClerc ‘04 in the officiating ranks. LeClerc was also one of seven officials representing the United States at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games that comprised the 47 team of on-ice Olympic hockey officials from across the world.
In addition to her duties as a hockey official, Guay is the USA Hockey Foundation’s director of philanthropy for the Northeast region. Recently, Guay returned to campus as a keynote speaker for the new Athletics Complex dedication in October.
A little over a week after Guay’s historic game in TD Garden, another Deerfield alumna, Molly Schaus ’06 became the first former Boston College Eagle women’s ice hockey player to have her jersey retired to the rafters of Conte Arena. Furthermore, Schaus was inducted into the Beanpot Tournament Hall of Fame at the reception.
Upon graduation from Deerfield, Schaus continued her hockey career at Boston College. She finished her career at BC as the all-time leader in saves and currently still stands as the 2nd all-time leader in the Boston College record books in career save percentage (.934), goals against average (1.81) and shutouts (21). She was two-time top-10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier award, presented annually to top player in NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey. She was a two-time Hockey East All-Star and a four-time All-Academic team member
Schaus was a first team All-American in 2011 and second-team honoree in 2009, a two-time Olympic silver medalist (2010 & 2014), and four-time International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship gold medalist. She was inducted into the Boston College varsity club Hall of Fame in the fall of 2018.
After graduating from BC, Molly played professionally with the Boston Blades of the CWHL, winning goaltender of the year in 2012. Now, Molly serves as the fan development marketing manager for the Anaheim Ducks.
Schaus was joined by four of her Deerfield classmates, Kit Hamley, Ashley LaPorte, Courtney Ryan, and Sarah Palomo, and Deerfield faculty member Gregg Meier at her jersey retirement celebration. After her jersey was unveiled in the rafters of Conte Arena, Schaus shared with the audience, “it’s never about the hockey and its not about the banners; it’s about the teammates, the relationships and the friendships …”
Thank you Katie and Molly for being amazing ambassadors and role models for our current and future Deerfield student-athletes! We look forward to watching what barriers you will break next.
Related Links:
Watch Molly Schaus’ Retired Jersey Unveiled
Katie Guay Makes History as First Female Official in Men’s Beanpot History