Quistgard, who has served as the Dutchwomen's head coach for six seasons, will remain at the College until the completion of his contract in June. Meanwhile, assistant women's hockey coach Myia Yates has announced that she will be leaving Union to accept coaching positions at Division III Daniel Webster College in Nashua, N.H.

Quistgard made the following statement after announcing his resignation to his team at their season-ending banquet on March 14: "For the past six years, building a strong foundation for the Union College women's ice hockey program has been my passion. Taking a program from the club level to Division III and then moving to Division I in a short amount of time has been very tiring. It is time for me to pass the torch to someone who will appreciate Union College and the special student-athletes we have."

Originally hired by former Union College Director of Athletics Dick Sakala to turn a club program into a varsity women's hockey program, Quistgard successfully managed the challenging task, improving each season as a member of the ECAC's Division III women's hockey conference, before making the major step this past season to the Division I level.

"Fred has done a tremendous job of building a program that now competes in the nation's most prestigious women's collegiate hockey conference (ECAC)," said Union Director of Athletics Val Belmonte. "Fred is extremely passionate about his coaching and the student-athletes he works with every day. He has made a positive and lasting impression on the many young women he has coached while at Union."

Quistgard and Belmonte said they are proud of how the Union program has been built over the past six years. "Junior captain Jamie Laubisch's nomination for the Hockey Humanitarian Award this season is a testament to the type of student-athlete that Fred has helped bring to the Union campus," said Belmonte. "I am confident that Fred has laid the groundwork for his successor and that the Union women's hockey program will continue to improve as we move into the future."

Looking back on his experience at Union, Quistgard commented, "I am grateful to Dick Sakala and Val Belmonte for their support and I look forward to following the growth of Union's women's hockey program in the coming years."

Yates leaves Union after serving three years as an assistant coach under Quistgard. She will take on head coaching responsibilities in softball and women's soccer at Daniel Webster and will be given the opportunity to begin a women's hockey program as well.

"I have had a great experience at Union and was able to grow as a coach in many different ways," said Yates when announcing her decision to leave the program. "I had a wonderful mentor in Coach Quistgard and a great group of student-athletes to work with. I am going to miss everyone tremendously."

Assistant women's hockey coach Laura Hays will assume all coaching and administrative responsibilities. Hays, who joined the Union staff last summer after serving two years as an assistant coach at Utica College, will remain as an assistant coach once Quistgard's replacement is hired.