# 2011–12 Niagara Purple Eagles women's ice hockey season

The Niagara Purple Eagles represent Niagara University in College Hockey America. The Purple Eagles attempted to qualify for the NCAA tournament for the second time in school history.

## Offseason

* August 23: Head coach Chris MacKenzie resigned as the head coach of the Purple Eagles. Assistant coach Josh Sciba was named interim head coach for the 2011-12 season.

### Recruiting

| Player | Nationality | Position | Notes |
| Delaney Middlebrook | United States | Defense | Member of Minnesota Ice Cats 2010 U-19 NAHA Champions |
| Kelsey Gunn | Canada | Defense | Played for Ottawa Senators of PWHL |
| Amy Helfrich | Canada | Forward | Won a gold medal with Team Alberta at the Canada Winter Games in 2011 |
| Kayla Raniwsky | Canada | Forward | Led the Southwest Wildcats with 42 points, including 26 goals in 36 games played during the 2010-11 season |
| Kalli Funk | United States | Forward | 2011 Minnesota State All Conference with Cretin-Derham Hall High School Also played with Minnesota Thoroughbreds |
| Abby Ryplanski | Canada | Goaltender | 2011 Liz Turgeon Player of the Year nominee |

## Regular season
### Standings

2011–12 College Hockey America standingsvte :
| | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall |
| | GP | PTS | W | L | T | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #6 Mercyhurst† | 6 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 16 | 24 | 18 | 5 | 1 | 118 | 47 |
| Robert Morris* | 6 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 24 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 73 | 44 |
| Niagara | 6 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 14 | 27 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 64 | 72 |
| Syracuse | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 17 | 28 | 9 | 16 | 3 | 63 | 89 |
| Wayne State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Championship: Robert Morris † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion National rankings: Conference rankings: Updated February 2nd, 2012 |||||||||||||||
* Rankings based on number of points in the conference
* Wayne State was scheduled to play in the 2011–12 season but the women's ice hockey program was dropped

### Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Location | Result | Record | Conference Record |
| 9/30/2011 | 7:00 PM | New Hampshire | Niagara Univ. | Loss, 4-6 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 |
| 10/1/2011 | 1:00 PM | New Hampshire | Niagara Univ. | Loss, 2-3 | 0-2-0 | 0-0-0 |
| 10/7/2011 | 7:00 PM | No. 4 Boston University | Boston, Mass | Loss, 1-3 | 0-3-0 | 0-0-0 |
| 10/8/2011 | 3:00 PM | No. 4 Boston University | Boston, Mass | Loss, 2-5 | 0-4-0 | 0-0-0 |
| 10/14/2011 | 7:00 PM | RPI | Niagara Univ. | Win, 5-4 OT | 1-4-0 | 0-0-0 |
| 10/15/2011 | 2:00 PM | RPI | Niagara Univ. | Win, 3-2 | 2-4-0 | 0-0-0 |
| 10/18/2011 | 7:00 PM | St. Lawrence | Niagara Univ. | Loss, 3-6 | 2-5-0 | 0-0-0 |
| 10/21/2011 | 7:00 PM | Yale | New Haven, CT | Win, 5-1 | 3-5-0 | 0-0-0 |
| 10/22/2011 | 3:00 PM | Princeton | Princeton, NJ | Win, 3-1 | 4-5-0 | 0-0-0 |
| 10/28/2011 | 2:00 PM | Vermont | Burlington, VT | Tie, 3-3 | 4-5-1 | 0-0-0 |

## Awards and honors

* Kalli Funk, CHA Rookie of the Week (Week of November 7, 2011)
* Kalli Funk, CHA Rookie of the Week (Week of January 31, 2011)
* Kelsey Gunn, CHA Rookie of the Week (Week of January 16, 2012)
* Jenna Hendrikx, CHA Player of the Week (Week of October 3, 2011)
* Delaney Middlebrook, CHA Rookie of the Week (Week of October 3, 2011)
* Sarah Moses, CHA Defensive Player of the Week (Week of November 21, 2011)
* Sarah Moses, CHA Defensive Player of the Week (Week of January 23, 2012)
* Erica Owczarczak, CHA Player of the Week (Week of November 7, 2011)
* Kayla Raniwsky, CHA Rookie of the Week, (Week of January 23, 2012)
* Kayla Raniwsky, CHA Rookie of the Week, (Week of February 27, 2012)
* Abby Ryplanski, CHA Defensive Player of the Week (Week of October 24, 2011)
* Abby Ryplanski, CHA Defensive Player of the Week (Week of November 7, 2011)
* Kelsey Welch, Niagara University Student Athlete of the Week (Week of October 17, 2011)