NOTE: “Beneath the Surface” is a joint project of the sports departments of The Oswegonian, WNYO 88.9 FM and WTOP-10 TV. The live broadcasts can be seen and heard on select Fridays at 8 p.m, as well as on WNYO’s and WTOP’s websites on demand.

Megan Ahern is currently an assistant coach for the Oswego State women’s hockey team, but the Oswego native covered a lot of ground before she landed the coaching job.

In her early years, Ahern grew up watching Laker hockey. Her father, Kevin Ahern, was a captain on the Oswego State men’s hockey team in 1986 and decided to reside in Oswego after school. He was an assistant on the men’s hockey team for 10 years and coached the Oswego State softball team for five.

Growing up around hockey, Ahern took after her father and decided that was the sport she was destined to play.

“Given the town that I live in, I think Oswego is known as a pretty big hockey town and hockey community,” Ahern said. “I think, inevitably, that would have been the sport I ended up choosing.”

As she progressed through her young career, she started to think about taking her game to the next level. Ahern was approached by the coach of a very prestigious prep school hockey program that was looking for her to play and learn throughout her high school career.

“Maybe about 12 or 13 [years old] playing at [the USA hockey national championships], I was approached by Ricky Reichenbach, who, at the time, was the coach for Millbrook [School],” Ahern said. “He approached me from a recruiting standpoint about playing at Millbrook. It was something that we looked into as a family and my parents were very supportive of.”

A few years later, Ahern was ready to leave Millbrook and enter her college career as a very good forward. Hamilton College had caught her eye considering they had her preferred major, biology, and it helped that she and head coach Emily McNamara clicked from the start.

“There [are] a lot of great colleges out there and a perfect fit for everybody. But Oswego State didn’t seem like the best fit for me academically,” Ahern said. “Emily McNamara, who was my coach at Hamilton, we had a great connection. Then through the recruiting process, she was someone who made me feel comfortable.”

Comfort is an important thing to have, knowing you are spending the majority of the next four years of your life with the leader of your team. Ahern and McNamara had such a deep connection and love for the game that it sparked Ahern to shy away from science and pursue a career in coaching.

“I think the thing that [McNamara] taught me was just to be authentic to yourself,” Ahern said. “She taught me a lot of the X’s and O’s of hockey but also just how to be an efficient coach.” 

As her career blossomed, Ahern took a coaching job at King’s College for the women’s hockey team’s inaugural season right after graduating from Hamilton. As life always goes in circles, the then-associate head coach Mark Digby reached out to Ahern in an attempt to bring her on the coaching staff. Of course, she obliged. 

“I’ve known Mark for a long time, I’ve known him since I was a kid,” Ahern said. “But I think as soon that opportunity arose where I knew he would be moving over to the women’s program, that was a no-brainer for me. As far as working with him and being back in this community, that was something that was a dream for me.”