Jess Koizumi has been named associate head coach of the Ohio State women’s program.
Koizumi comes to the Buckeyes after spending time as an assistant coach at Yale.
“We’re very excited to have her on staff; she’s exactly what we need here,” said new OSU head coach Nadine Muzerall in a statement. “She has an immense amount of experience as a player and coach, and I couldn’t be happier to bring her to Ohio State. She is the complete package and she wants to help build this program.”
An All-WCHA performer at Minnesota-Duluth, Koizumi was a captain of the Bulldogs for two seasons and won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2008 IIHF Women’s World Championships. From 2009 through 2015, she spent time in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League with the Montreal Stars and Boston Blades, captaining the Blades for a season and helping them to Clarkson Cup wins in 2013 and 2015.
Most recently, Koizumi was a member of the Connecticut Whale of the National Women’s Hockey League, which was founded in March 2015. During her only season with the Whale, she served as team captain and also scored the first goal in the history of the NWHL.
“It has been a whirlwind of a week,” Koizumi added. “Those that know me personally truly understand this was the hardest career decision I have had to make to retire playing professionally in the NWHL before what I planned would be my last season. I am a big believer that everything happens for a reason and this incredible coaching opportunity at The Ohio State University just felt right, that my time had come to hang up my skates and wear my permanent coaching hat.”
Prior to her time at Yale, Koizumi served as a coach with the North American Hockey Academy, Totino Grace High School and UMD, where she was a graduate assistant.
