NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Kevin Cole has been announced as the first head coach in men's hockey program history for Misericordia University.  The start-up program will play in the MAC and UCHC beginning in 2024.
 
Cole has a unique background which made him an ideal choice to lead the Misericordia program.  He has been a part of multiple start-up or rebirths of programs during his career.  Most recently, he successfully led the rebirth of Norwich University men's golf which returned to campus after being paused since the completion of the 1999 season.  The Cadets won the inaugural Tony Mariano Vermont Invitational, which was the first home match in over 23 years, and freshman Matt Printup was named Great Northeast Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year.  In addition, Cole has had previous experience starting hockey programs at two other universities during his career. 
 
"Kevin is very deserving of this opportunity," said Norwich Head Men's Hockey Coach Cam Ellsworth. "He has made a huge impact on our program and we will miss him greatly, but I am very excited for him, Paige, and Hattie."
 
The Misericordia University administration is equally excited about welcoming Cole to the campus community.  "We are excited about the addition of men's ice hockey to our varsity athletics offerings and are especially excited about the hiring of Kevin Cole as our first head coach," said Misericordia President Dr. Dan Myers.  "His experience, leadership and enthusiasm will be a tremendous asset to our program."
 
As an assistant for the Norwich men's hockey team, he helped the team post a 32-13-7 record over the last two years including a 20-7-2 record this past season.  The 2022-23 season was a particularly exciting season.  The Cadets knocked off previously undefeated Hobart at home in a thrilling 2-1 victory of the eventual National Champions.  In fact, that was one of only two losses the National Champions suffered during the year.  Norwich earned an at-large bid to this year's NCAA Div. III Men's Hockey Tournament and traveled to long-time rival SUNY-Plattsburgh for the first-round game.  Callum Jones delivered a memorable overtime goal which emptied the bench in celebration and advanced the Cadets to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals.  College Sports Communicators named four players to the Academic All-District at-large team and those student-athletes are now advancing to voting to potentially be named Academic All-American.  In addition, 15 members of this year's team have been named New England Hockey Conference All-Academic team highlighted by Andrew Albano who graduated with a 4.0 GPA in Mechanical Engineering. 
 
"My family and I want to thank Cam Ellsworth, (athletic director) Coach Hockenbury, (former athletic director) Coach Mariano, and President Anarumo for giving us this opportunity at Norwich," said Coach Cole.  "Our time here was something we will always be grateful for.  We wish nothing but the best for Norwich and the community of Northfield.  I'm excited for our next chapter but leaving such a great group of guys is something that is extremely difficult.  I look forward to watching the continued success for everything surrounding both Norwich hockey and golf."
 
Cole is the second member of the greater Norwich University hockey family to be recently named the head coach for a start-up program.  In May, Madyson Moore '15 was named the first head coach for the University of Dubuque women's hockey team.