The NWHL’s Buffalo Beauts have announced the signing of six players to practice player contracts for the 2016-17 season. All six players attended NWHL free agent camp in Buffalo.
The Buffalo Beauts practice players include forward Hayley Williams, who played 17 games for the Beauts last season, tallying a goal and five points. With fewer players on the active roster and 2015 draft picks entering the league for the NWHL’s second season, roster spots were harder to come by.
The team has also signed former Robert Morris University forwards Morgan Beikirch and Ashley Vesci, as well as defenseman Jacquie Greco from Syracuse and Norwich University’s Kayla Parsons.
See how happy she is? What's happening here is far, far bigger than ourselves. #honorarycaptain #nationalanthem pic.twitter.com/PfMWTjZCu9
— Hayley Williams (@haywilliathlete) December 11, 2015
In net, they have signed Kelsey Neumann, who will sit behind returning U.S. national team goaltender Brianne McLaughlin and former University of Minnesota goaltender Amanda Leveille.
The Beauts are the first NWHL club to announce their full slate of practice players for the coming season.
The NWHL season opens Oct. 7 with two games in Buffalo, including a match between the Beauts and the defending champion Boston Pride.