Katherine Hannah brings a wealth of championship experience to Johnson & Wales. She comes to the Wildcats after four seasons as the head coach at Lindenwood University in Belleville, Ill. During her time there, she accumulated an 86-33-9 record.
The Lynx won at least 19 games under Hannah, including a program-best 23 wins in 2018. She guided the team to a pair of Western Women's Collegiate Hockey League (WWCHL) Tournament Championships and four-consecutive American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division I National Tournaments.
Hannah capped her tenure at Lindenwood on a high note by taking the Lynx to the ACHA National Championship game. LU defeated Grand Valley State in overtime of game three to take opening series, 2-1, then defeated second-ranked Adrian, 4-2. The Lynx lost 5-2 in the championship game to top-ranked Liberty.
A proven leader and enthusiastic recruiter, Hannah has had an accomplished career as both a coach and player. At the conclusion of the 2015-16 season, she collected her first ACHA Coach of the Year award. She was also invited to be an assistant coach at the USA Hockey Girls' Multi-District Player Development/Evaluation Camp in Colorado Springs, Colo.
During her time at Lindenwood she coached a trio of All-Americans and 13 student-athletes who earned Academic All-America honors. Three players represented the United States at the 2019 World University Games.
In addition to her coaching success, Hannah was a great student-athlete at Lindenwood. A four-time, First-Team All-American, she was the ACHA Division I Player of the Year in 2006 and 2008 as she helped the Lynx win the ACHA National Championships those years.
Hannah graduated from Lindenwood in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. She received her master's in criminal justice administration from Lindenwood in 2008.
She inherits a JWU team that was the third seed in the NEHC playoffs and ended the year with an 11-11-4 mark. The Wildcats return three of their top four scorers, including All-NEHC selection Hannah Tracy and NEHC All-Rookie Team selection Koryn Russell.
