BURLINGTON, Vt. - Former Catamount Ashley Salerno will be joining the Vermont coaching staff as an assistant coach for the 2016-17 season. Head coach Jim Plumer made the announcement today.
 
"I am thrilled to welcome Ashley back to UVM as part of our staff," said Plumer. "In her coaching tenure at Middlebury she has proved to be one of the rising stars in coaching and I am excited to have someone who has such a passion for the game of women's hockey, and for UVM as part of our program.  Ashley made a major impact as a player at UVM in our most successful season ever and I am confident that she will have that same effect as a coach."
 
After graduating from UVM in the spring of 2014 with a degree in psychology Salerno became the assistant coach at Middlebury College. In her two seasons with the Panthers the team was 41-11-6 and advanced to the NCAA tournament in 2015 and 2016. This season Middlebury won the NESCAC title with a 5-4 overtime win over Amherst College and advanced to the NCAA semifinals.
 
Salerno began her college hockey career as a defenseman at Amherst College, she played three years there including two seasons under Coach Plumer. She helped lead her team to a pair of trips to the NESCAC finals and the NCAA quarterfinals in 2012. She scored 13 goals and assisted on 29 other for 42 points in 80 games at Amherst.
 
Salerno transferred to Vermont as a senior and she played a key role in Vermont's best-ever Division I season. The Catamounts won a program record 18 games and advanced for the first time to the Hockey East semifinals. Salerno skated in 35 of the 36 games that season and collected 13 points on the year. She scored the game-winning goal for Vermont on Senior Day as the Catamounts extended a program record six-game winning streak with a 3-1 win over Providence. Salerno ended her career at Vermont on a four-game point streak.
 
In addition to her experience at Middlebury she has worked as a coach with the USA Hockey Regional and National Development Camps, the Vermont Stars, the Burlington Amateur Hockey Association and the Green Mountain Development Camp.