APPLETON, Wis. -- Julia Dessart wasn't thinking about being a trailblazer. She was just looking for a win.
    Already serving as the assistant coach for the Lawrence University women's hockey team, Dessart took on the role of serving as an assistant coach for the men's hockey squad this season. She is one of just three female assistants working with a men's team in college hockey. When she was on the bench for this past weekend's series with MSOE, victory was the only thing on her mind.
    "I definitely didn't think about the implications of coaching the men's team until I was driving home from Saturday's win," Dessart said. "To me, I was just coaching hockey. I took this on to be of help where I could as well as grow myself as a coach, learn some things from Wally (Lawrence coach Brett Wall), and bring in some new ideas to the men to help improve the program."
    The weekend proved to be a big success as the Vikings took home four points in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association standings with a win and a tie over MSOE.
    "Julia has been a huge asset for our team and program," Lawrence men's coach Brett Wall said. "Her knowledge of the game, ability to communicate with the players and her preparation is some of the best I've been around in the game. She constantly comes with fresh ideas and thoughts, which have helped us have some early season success. She's not afraid to voice her thoughts and opinions on practice planning, lineups and in game adjustments. I'm looking forward to continuing to have Julia with us on the bench and on the ice at practice." 
    Wall was without a full-time assistant, and Julia stepped up to help the men's squad. With the women's team idle last weekend, Dessart got her first chance to be on the bench with the men's squad.
    "I knew Wally needed some help this year, and (head women's coach) Kevin (Dessart), Wally and I all talked about how I could help," Dessart said.
    "There's more flexibility in my schedule where I can help out with the men's practices. The natural next step to this is being on the bench with the men when I get the opportunity. This last weekend worked out perfectly as the women didn't have games so I was able to be on the bench with the men, and our whole women's team was also able to be there and support the men for their home opener."
    The hockey programs at Lawrence have formed some strong bonds so Dessart was quite familiar with the men's program.
    "The men's and women's teams have adopted a #StrongerAsOne mindset where we do team events together, and we have placed an emphasis on building a hockey program rather than a men's and women's team so this just emphasizes that we as a coaching staff are serious about this," Dessart said. "I am and we are here to help grow and develop the program, not just the individual teams."
    While it would be easy to think of a hard-hitting sport like hockey as simply a club for the guys, Dessart knows that world very well so it wasn't a big stretch for her to start working with the men. Some nametags might have been helpful on the first day, however.
    "Not at all, hockey is hockey," Dessart said of working with the men's team. "I grew up playing boys hockey and played on the boys team in high school as well so I'm pretty used to hockey guys and how they function. The only hard part for me has been learning their names. Being with them only once a week for practices, I'm not interacting with them often enough for names/numbers to always stick, but I've brought in some things from the women's team that have helped build more of a relationship when I'm there and this weekend definitely helped with that as well. Overall, it's been a pretty seamless transition. The guys respect me as a coach, and I respect them all as players and individuals so it just feels natural."
    A decorated player and captain on the American Collegiate Hockey Association team at the University of Colorado, Dessart served as the team captain for the 2021-22 season. She led the Buffaloes to championships in the Western Women's Collegiate Hockey League in both 2020 and 2022. She then joined the coaching staff at Lawrence after Kevin Dessart was named the head coach in 2022. 
    "Julia's role with the hockey program has grown during her time here, and she has become an integral part of the coaching staff," Lawrence Director of Athletics Jason Imperati said. "As a young coach, Julia has shown she is extremely capable, and we are very proud of her."