In the fall of 2025 Edge School student-athlete Olivia Imperato will take her talents south of the border to Lebanon, Illinois where she will suit up for the McKendree University women’s hockey and lacrosse teams.
The Calgary, AB forward has spent the last two season in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) playing for her hometown Edge Female U18 Prep team. She would tally 13 points in 21 games during the 2023/24 season before recording 17 in 30 this year, giving her a career total of 13 goals, 17 assists and 30 points in 51 CSSHL games.
Imperato started her hockey journey when she was five-years-old. At that same time, she would start playing box lacrosse, in an effort to be like her eldest sister, Ali. Imperato immediately fell in love with the similar competitiveness of the two sports and the technical differences between them.
Imperato played boys hockey with the Symons Valley Storm from Timbits all the way to U13 until she made the switch to girls’ hockey, playing for the Calgary Fire for both U15 years and her first year of U18, before spending her last two seasons with Edge. Imperato would captain her Edge squad this past season.
Her lacrosse career has followed a similar journey as she started out playing with the boys from age five to nine with Hornets Lacrosse, before making the switch to girls. She spent one more season with Hornets playing on an all-girls team before a new female league was established called ‘Fury Lacrosse’ where she played for a season, stopping due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Imperato finally returned to playing lacrosse when she was 16 after missing the past four seasons. Her first year back she played for U17 Fury White and made U17 Team Alberta where she had the opportunity to represent the province at Box Nationals in 2023.
As a graduating player, Imperato was eligible for the Alberta Female Junior Lacrosse Draft in 2024, where she was selected in the first round, third overall by the Calgary Cardinals. Imperato is now in her second season with the Cardinals after being crowned Provincial Champions in her rookie season in 2024.
This fall when she heads to McKendree University, an ACHA Division I program, Imperato will combine her two worlds, playing hockey and lacrosse for the Bearcats with the two sports overlapping throughout the fall and spring.
“Being part of the CSSHL and Edge has really taught me how to manage my time and stay disciplined,” added Imperato. “Balancing a high level of hockey with academics isn’t easy, but the structure and support here have helped me grow both on and off the ice. It’s prepared me for the next level in every aspect, and I am forever grateful for the past two years.”
Off the ice she will be taking Biopsychology, with the intention of becoming a Respiratory Therapist or Psychiatric Nurse, depending on which of the two peaks her interest most after graduating.
