David Venditti, who helped Southern Maine’s women’s team to 60 wins the past four years, has been named the new head coach at Colby.
Venditti, a 1991 graduate of Southern Maine and a former men’s hockey player at USM, becomes the ninth head coach in Colby women’s hockey history. The Mules started play in the 1974-75 academic year and are one of the oldest women’s hockey programs in the country.
“I am extremely excited about David joining us at Colby College,” said Marcella Zalot, Colby’s athletic director. “David has built a very well respected program at USM. He is a proven leader and I look forward to his work with the Colby women’s ice hockey program.”
Venditti took over a Southern Maine program that was 28-34-4 in three previous seasons. He led the Huskies to a 60-34-8 record in four years, helped the team earn a top 10 national ranking, and was part of three ECAC East semifinal teams. Venditti also had a 5-1-2 record against Colby during his time at USM.
“We had a core group of players [at USM] who wanted to learn and be successful,” said Venditti, a Boston native. “During the interview process at Colby, I got a chance to meet some of the players and I saw the same thing in them.”
Before his head coaching stint at USM, Venditti spent nine years as boys’ hockey coach at Cheverus High School. He spent the first two years as an assistant coach and then was the head coach for seven years. Cheverus had an 83-37-2 record in his seven years as head coach.
