Nichols School Takes In Minnesota Frost Game During Chipotle-USA Hockey High School Nationals

While Knoll didn’t score in the Frost’s 5-0 victory, the players certainly saw what’s possible. And considering the path some other Nichols alums have taken, the dream of one day playing in the PWHL is there for them to realize.

The trip to the Frost game came as the Vikings participate in the 2026 Chipotle-USA Hockey High School Girls 2A National Championships in Plymouth, Minnesota.

Considering this is just the third year of the program being at the Tier I level, the Vikings have quickly acclimated to the tougher level of competition and won their first two games at nationals.

That is understandable when your program not only boasts Knoll as an alum, but also Hayley Scamurra — who just won an Olympic gold medal with the U.S. — and Olivia Zafuto, all of whom were teammates at Nichols of second-year assistant coach Taylor Pietrowski. Scamurra plays for the PWHL’s Montreal Victoire while Zafuto plays for the Boston Fleet.

Pietrowski — who graduated from Nichols in 2018, went on to play at Cornell and is currently attending law school — has seen the program evolve from her playing days.

“When I played for Nichols, it was just a high school season, so we only played from November to the end of February,” she said. “We did a split season. Every kid on the team was playing for a club team from July until November and then going back to their club team in March and participating in states. And then three years ago, the year before I started coaching, Jamie Printz was the former coach of Nichols, he changed it to a year-round, Tier I program, so it alleviated kids having to play [for two teams].”

That happened before the start of the 2023-24 season. The move up to Tier I has opened more doors for Nichols. Already with a strong roster featuring all Buffalo-area players, the Vikings are starting to attract talent from outside of the region.

Through a benefactor, Olivia Popescu ended up at Nichols as her family looked to get her away from the war in Ukraine, which is located on the northern border of Romania.

The 15-year-old Nichols freshman tallied a team-high 13 points and led Romania to a gold medal at the 2026 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship in Division II - Group B.

And the Vikings don’t just attract hockey players. The school requires all students to play at least one sport. A few of the players in the girls hockey program also compete in field hockey, with one player from last school year earning a college scholarship.

Nichols has also taken a step up this season with Stephanie Nadler becoming the coach. Nadler, who was on the Niagara team that made the 2002 Women’s Frozen Four, has brought a new energy to the Vikings.

“As a woman myself, coaching girls’ hockey and having been a player for so long, there’s very few female coaches, especially female head coaches,” Pietrowski said. “So that was something very special for our girls, just to kind of see the success that women can have in hockey, whether it’s playing after college, playing in college or pursuing something like coaching. That’s been super valuable.”

It’s been a long road to make it all the way to nationals, but Nadler has been satisfied seeing her team’s hard work pay off.

“It’s just really exciting for the girls,” Nadler said. “You work hard when you have a 55-game season and you’re on the ice four days a week and you’re putting the work in and then you get to come to a tournament like this and play against some of the best teams in the country. It’s just really exciting for the girls.”

Pietrowski also noted the extra time that Nadler spends with the players to help them to improve.

“She’s really high energy, which is something that the kids really relate to and they love,” Pietrowski said. “Something that I really respect about her is she’ll never say no to a kid wanting more time on the ice, more help. She’s on the ice. Something new we’ve been doing this year is during the school day, when the kids have a free period, you can go on the ice and she’s out there every single day with a group of kids just working on little skills and little details. That’s made such a huge difference in our program.”