Nursing Major Pursues Competitive Division III Hockey and a Future in Healthcare

Key Points:

• Anna Dale ’27, a Nursing major from Juneau, Alaska, chose Lebanon Valley College to pursue both competitive Division III hockey and a future in healthcare.
• Dale had a record-breaking sophomore season, leading NCAA Division III in goals per game and earning MAC Offensive Player of the Year and All-American honors.
• As co-captain, she helped lead LVC to a program-record 19 regular-season wins and contributed to one of the top scoring teams in the nation.
• Dale has also set program career records in multiple categories, including points, goals, game-winning goals, and shots.
• She credits LVC’s supportive community, including Residential Life and her teammates, for helping her feel at home while being far from Alaska.

“Anna Dale is a game-changing force every time she hits the ice,” said Jon Benich, LVC Assistant Women’s Ice Hockey Coach, in a recent article by Klas Stolpe for the Juneau Independent. Yes, in Juneau, Alaska, Dale’s hometown.

Dale, a junior Nursing major, was leaning toward West Coast schools when exploring colleges, but knew that would mean giving up competitive hockey. Not yet ready to surrender her passion, she reached out to some coaches on the East Coast and learned about LVC’s program and new Nursing major. She wanted to get into the medical field and thought that nursing was the perfect way to communicate with and build relationships with her patients.

Though her favorite academic memory thus far was observing in the operating room during one of her clinical days, Dale has had countless great days in the rink. As a sophomore last year, she led NCAA DIII in goals per game and was the program’s first MAC Offensive Player of the Year and All-American. Goalies Jill Moffatt ’20 and Shelby Guinard ’23 won back-to-back MAC Defensive Player of the Year awards.

Dale co-captained the team this year, scored her 50th career goal, and helped lead the team to the most wins in history. The 19 wins (through the regular season) surpassed the previous team record of 17 set last season. The team was 22nd in the nation and added additional scoring power, ranking 9th nationally for goals. Dale was 12th in scoring at the time of this article.

“Skating at the college level is so much more than I would have imagined,” said Dale in Stolpe’s article. “There are about 1,200 D3 women’s ice hockey players, so just playing at this level and succeeding is such an accomplishment. When you are ranked in the top 30 teamwise or for individual statistics, it is so rewarding. Knowing that myself as well as my team is among the best in the country has been one of the greatest feelings ever.”

Co-Captain Tiffany Anderson ’26, who was fourth in the nation for faceoff wins, agreed in a recent FOX43 Sports piece by Ryan Ye.

“…she is just always trying to push everybody to be better than better for themselves and each other. She’s so positive. Having her be my roommate and linemate is honestly very special to me, and I love playing with Anna.”

Dale loves being part of the Women’s Ice Hockey team, but also appreciates other LVC support.

“Since it’s such a long flight home to Alaska, the Residential Life staff has always been helpful by making it easy to stay on campus during short breaks and storing my stuff during the summer. We have a lot of international players and teammates from all over the country, so we always do things together during short breaks and holidays, including dinner at Coach [Matt] Yingst’s house. Being with my teammates on holidays when I am away from my family has been comforting.”

Though just a junior, Dale is the program’s all-time leader in points, goals, game-winning goals, short-handed goals, and shots. She is tied for first in power-play goals and third for assists.

“She does the right thing on and off the ice, she is just the ultimate player and captain you’d be looking for,” said Yingst in the FOX43 interview. “She is a very silent leader, shows up for every game, every practice, with the exact same effort. As far as the rest of the team, it’s really hard not to follow in her footsteps.”

“As far as the teammates and friends, I do love it here,” Dale told Ye. “It is a nice, friendly, and comfortable place to be when I’m not at home.”