Jinelle Accepts Assistant Coaching Job at Robert Morris!
Jinelle Siergiej, former Northland Pines hockey player, WisconsinBadger, and Olympian, has been hired by head coach Paul Colontino as an assistant coach for the Robert Morris University women’s ice hockey team!
Before arriving at RMU, Siergiej served as the head coach of the Arrowhead Union High School girls hockey team over the past three seasons. She led the Warhawks to a conference championship in 2011 and a second-place finish in 2012. Currently, three of her former players are playing at the collegiate level.
Siergiej enjoyed an illustrious international playing career, winning four silver medals (2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010) in the Four Nations Cup as a part of Team USA. She also captured silver medals in the 2007 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Women’s Championship, registering two goals and an assist in five games, and in the 2010 Olympic Games where she played in every contest. Siergiej officially retired from international competition in 2011.
Outside of international competition, Siergiej also left a mark as a member of the University of Wisconsin team that won back-to-back championships in 2006 and 2007. From 2004 to 2008 Siergiej, then known as Jinelle Zaugg, led the Badgers in goals for three straight seasons. She earned a spot on the WCHA All-Freshman team in her first year, and followed that up with three straight years on the WCHA All-Conference team.
In 2006-2007, Siergiej registered career highs in goals (29) and assists (21) to lead the Badgers to a second straight national championship. She earned NCAA All-Tournament Team honors in both championship runs. At the time of her departure, Siergiej held Badgers’ records for career goals, game-winning goals, and power-play goals. In 160 games for the Badgers from 2004-2008, Siergiej tallied 89 goals, 67 assists, 156 points, 29 power play goals and 22 game-winning-goals.
Siergiej has also been the owner of the Crazy Eights Hockey Camp in recent years. The annual all-girls hockey camp is held in cities across Wisconsin and has produced 10 collegiate hockey players over the past nine years. Siergiej and a handful of her Olympic teammates have instructed on-ice and off-ice development of over 800 girls since the camp’s inception in 2006.
In 2011 Wisconsin Prep Hockey announced that an award would be created in honor of Siergiej’s legacy. The Jinelle Siergiej Award is now handed out annually to the top female offensive player in Wisconsin high school hockey.
Siergiej graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 2008 with a degree in rural sociology.