Colgate University hockey teammates face off in IIHF Women's World Championship

Colgate University senior Danielle Serdachny and sophomore Sydney Morrow skated together during a 2023-24 ice hockey season that took their team to a spot in the Frozen Four, where Colgate fell to Wisconsin in the semifinals.

On Monday, though, Serdachny and Morrow sat on benches across the ice from each other during the preliminary round USA-Canada game at the International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championships at the Adirondack Bank Center at Utica Memorial Auditorium in Utica.

Serdachny, of Edmonton, Alberta, plays for Team Canada. Morrow, of Darien, Connecticut, is an alternate on Team USA. The two teams are favorites to meet again in Sunday’s championship game.

That sets up a bit of a conflict for Morrow’s and Serdachny’s Colgate teammates, more than half of whom are Canadian. A group of them who could get away went to Monday’s USA-Canada game in which the United States won 1-0 in overtime. 

Freshman Madeline Palumbo, of Courtice, Ontario, rooted for Team Canada.

“We obviously want to cheer for both Syd and Dachs (Serdachny’s team nickname),” she said. “But I think at the end of the day, a few of us are biased for where we’re from. But obviously, we wish the best for both of them.”

Morrow and Serdachny are not Colgate’s only ties to the Women’s Worlds. Noemi Neubauerova, a 2022 Colgate graduate, plays for the team from Czechia. The former teammates played each other on Sunday in a game some of the Colgate players watched as well. Serdachny scored the first goal for Canada in its 5-0 victory.

And Team USA Assistant Coach Josh Sciba worked as an assistant coach at Colgate from 2012 to 2016.

Two more Colgate players — fifth-year seniors Sydney Bard, of New Hartford, and Allyson Simpson, of Frisco, Texas — were invited to the U.S. National Women’s Team Evaluation Camp, along with Morrow, and were cut in the final rounds, Colgate Coach Greg Fargo said.

'Something to look up to'

Colgate player Emma Pais, a freshman from London, Ontario, grew up watching the women’s world championship on TV and saw some of the games live last year in Brampton, Ontario.

But, watching games is a lot different, she said, when you have friends on the teams. “I feel like, sometimes, when I’m watching, I get more nervous than when I’m playing,” Pais said, “especially when you’re watching your teammate. I was definitely cheering them on.”

Watching their teammates make their national teams also encourages Pais and Palumbo in their own dreams, which include making Team Canada and then playing in the Professional Women’s Hockey League. Morrow and Serdachny have shown them that it’s possible, Pais said.

“(Sydney) is only a sophomore and she’s playing for her country,” she said. “Something to look up to and aspire for definitely, really inspiring.”

“It’s really cool to see that these girls are doing it and that they played at Colgate and they played for their national team,” Palumbo agreed. “It’s definitely very motivating and very inspirational ... They definitely inspire me and our teammates to continue to push every day.”

Pais is rooting for a Canada-USA rematch in the gold medal game.

“I think it would be awesome for the sport,” she said. “And obviously having a teammate on each team, I think it would be awesome if they could play in the final.”

A coach's perspective

Fargo, a Canadian, has seen and enjoyed some of the games, but he remains a neutral supporter, not rooting for either team, he said.

“It’s always a joy to watch your players play,” he said.

And the USA-Canada game gave him everything he wanted, he said — “a really good competitive game with two exceptional teams, where the talents of all the players were on display.”

It’s a shame, Fargo added, that only one team can win. But he loves to see his players doing well or the national or international stage, he said.

And Fargo expects Serdachny to get picked in the first round of the Professional Women’s Hockey League draft in June, he said. (He also expects Bard and Simpson to get drafted, he said.)

“Danielle’s an exceptional talent,” he said. “I think what stands out immediately when you watch her play is the combination of her skill and her strength on the ice. She can overpower her opponents yet she has this ability to kind of slow the game down to play at her pace.”

And she’s a dual threat, he added, an elite passer who can make plays, but also score goals.

Morrow’s position on the team is to the credit of Team USA, its coaching staff and scouts, Fargo said.

“They’ve seen some younger talent coming up through the NCAA and have not been afraid to take a chance on some up-and-coming young, star players in college hockey," Fargo said. "I think it speaks to how they’ve gone about developing players from the grassroots level and now you’re seeing some of those stars emerging on a national stage.”

What sets Morrow, who played for Ohio State her freshman year, apart as a defender is her unique skills on offense, Fargo said.

“She’s got such poise and her blazing vision, (they) are, I think, unique among defenders, especially someone her age,” he said. “I think she’s an incredible player now and I think there’s also more potential inside of her, untapped potential inside of her.”

Off the ice

But, as tough and focused as both Morrow and Serdachny are with their game, they both have another side off the ice, Fargo said. Serdachny, the team captain, likes to have fun with her friends, he said. “She also cares a whole lot about giving back and growing the game. And that’s been something that she takes a lot of pride in.”

Serdachny co-founded the Rising Raiders program at Colgate in 2022. It pairs local, hockey-playing girls between the ages of six and 14 with mentors on the Colgate team.

“We believe that this is a great opportunity for girls in the sport to have mentors and to have people they can look up to,” Serdachny said in an article on the program written by Colgate staff in 2022. “We also think it’s an awesome opportunity to help grow the game. It is always good to give back to the game of hockey in any way possible.”

Morrow gets along with everyone and everyone loves being around her, Fargo said.

“She’s a really competitive person and player and has this real drive internally,” he said. “But she’s also got this real fun and loving side to her. Her teammates would say just how positive she is and how great of a teammate she is.”

Teammates

Asked about their teammates, Pais and Palumbo echoed much of what their coach said.

Palumbo called Marrow amazing on defense and an amazing player overall. And Serdachny is a role model who’s taken many of the younger players under her wing, Palumbo said.

“I think they’re just, both of them, very inspirational on the ice,” she added. “They come every day to practice ready to work, to make themselves and their team better. They both have a drive just to be the best version of themselves on and off the ice.”

Pais extolled Serdachny’s poise on the ice and her leadership off the ice, noting that she always puts the team and other players before herself.

And Pais, who can get tense, appreciates Serdachny’s efforts to keep things light and everyone calm, whether it’s by dancing around or cracking a joke before a game, Pais said. “She does a very good job,” she added, “of enjoying the moment.”

Morrow, Pais said, has a good hockey IQ, makes good decisions on the ice, handles the puck unbelievably and has an amazing shot. “Off the ice, she’s so much fun to be around,” Pais added. “Always cracking jokes. And she’s also really good at keeping the mood light.”

It is possible that someday Pais and Morrow will play against each other if each makes her national team in the same year, Pais acknowledged. “We’re both really competitive people so I think we’d probably be competitive for the 60 minutes we’d be playing.

“But then again, it would be hard to take it too seriously. I think we’d be cracking jokes together on the ice.”

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Women's hockey: Colgate has players in IIHF Women's World Championship