A trio of new Division III coaching hires were recently announced.
Lake Forest has tabbed Susan Bellizzi to lead the women’s program. Bellizzi replaces T.R. Bell, who resigned after the 2000-01 season. The Foresters finished last season with a 10-13-1 overall record, including a 4-11-1 mark and fourth-place finish in the NCHA. It was Lake Forest’s first varsity season.
Bellizzi spent last season as an assistant coach for Bill Mandigo at Middlebury, where she helped the Panthers to the American Women’s College Hockey Association (AWCHA) national championship, a 23-1-1 overall
record, and an ECAC championship.
Bellizzi is a 1999 graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. During her four-year hockey career, she set school records for career points, career goals, points in a single-season, and goals in a
single-season. Bellizzi was the ECAC Division III Player of the Year and a First Team All-American in 1999.
Plymouth State has named its sixth head men’s coach in the program’s 31-year history. Chris Hudon, a Plymouth State graduate and former Panther hockey player, takes takes over from former coach Mike Bonelli, who resigned after three years behind the Panther bench.
Hudon has been the head hockey coach at Dracut (Mass.) High School the past two seasons. He also served five years as assistant hockey coach at The Holderness (N.H.) School.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to become the hockey coach at my alma mater,” said Hudon. “I’ve wanted to be a coach since I was in college, and this is a tremendous opportunity for me. As a former player at PSC, I am eager to maintain the pride in wearing the Panther uniform.”
Hudon graduated from Plymouth State in 1992 and received his Masters degree in Health Education from PSC in 1996. He coached both football and hockey at Holderness Prep in the mid 1990s, and was also an assistant hockey coach at Amesbury (Mass.) High School in ’96-97 and ’98-99 before taking over the Dracut hockey program in 1999.
Last but not least, Trinity has hired Kate Busniuk as head women’s coach. The Bantams had a 1-19-3 overall record and a 1-16-1 mark in the ECAC.
Busniuk served as the co-head coach of the City of West Hartford High Schools team last season. She is originally from Thunder Bay, Ontario, and has played an active role in promoting and organizing women’s ice hockey camps throughout the Northwestern Ontario area since 1997. Her father, Mike Busniuk, is an assistant coach for the Hartford Wolfpack in the American Hockey League.
Busniuk attended Northeastern, and earned her degree from Confederation College in Thunder Bay, Ontario. At Northeastern, she was a member of the Huskies’ 1997 ECAC Championship team.
