Allie Kelley Breaks NCAA Record For Saves

Syracuse Women’s Ice Hockey goalie Allie Kelley set the NCAA record for saves in an overtime loss against No. 9 Penn State on Friday.

The 24-year-old goalie recorded 41 saves in the game, bringing her career total to 4,176. She passed RPI’s Lovisa Selander, who held the record with 4,167 saves in four years from 2015 to 2019.

"The focus tonight is Allie Kelley," said Syracuse head coach Britini Smith following the record setting game. "She has been good the entire time with Syracuse but tonight she was on a different level with her ability to make big saves in big moments. I'm very excited for her accomplishment, it's a huge milestone. It's unfortunate that we couldn't get it done tonight in overtime."

Kelley, a East Berne, New York native, began her career at Quinnipiac in 2019. She didn’t see ice time her first season, but appeared in two games the next year before transferring to Saint Anselm College.

At Saint Anselm, Kelley recorded a .939 save percentage her first year and a .914 save percentage her second year. She played two seasons, tallying 2,210 saves.

In 2023-24, Kelley transferred once more to Syracuse University, where she has earned herself the title of Captain, and now holds the NCAA save record.

Kelley rarely takes a night off, and has been a star in net for the Syracuse Women’s Ice Hockey team.

The six seasons Kelley has played in the NCAA has given her an advantage. Kelley was able to play an additional two seasons due to medical redshirting and Covid-19 eligibility.

All of her years in the league paid off however. Now, Kelley can add yet another accomplishment to her NCAA legacy.

This season has been great for Kelley. Just four days ago the Women’s Hockey Commissioners Association named Kelley a “goalie to watch this year”. She also joins just two other goalies who have reached the 4,000 save mark in NCAA Women’s Hockey.

Despite the record breaking night for Kelley, her team fell to No. 9 Penn State 1-0. With this loss, Syracuse fell to 7-18 on the season while Penn State rose to 20-4-1.

In the two years with Kelley in net, Syracuse held a cumulative record of 14-42-3. Despite the losing record, it is clear that Kelley has been the glue holding the team together with her remarkable goaltending.

Syracuse travels to RIT on Friday January 24th, 2025 for their next game.