Cortland men’s hockey head coach Joe Cardarelli and assistant coaches Stephen Castriota and Nick Harper have been selected as the 2021-22 SUNYAC coaching staff of the year.
Cortland finished the season with a 15-10-2 overall record for the second-highest win total in school history. The Red Dragons finished fourth in the SUNYAC regular season with a 9-5-2 mark, setting a school mark for conference victories, and advanced to the SUNYAC tournament semifinals with a 5-1 home win over Fredonia in the first round.
Cardarelli took over as Cortland’s head coach in the 2014-15 season. The program averaged just over six wins per season in the five years prior to his taking the role, and the Red Dragons are averaging more than 10 victories per year during his tenure.
This season, Cortland made its first SUNYAC playoff appearance since 2008 and earned its first playoff victory since 2002.
Cortland set school single-season records with a 2.30 team goals-against average and an 86.9 penalty-kill percentage.
The Red Dragons posted a 2-0 win and 2-2 tie versus eventual SUNYAC champion and nationally ranked Geneseo, a 2-1 win at nationally ranked and New England Hockey Conference regular-season champion Hobart, and a 4-3 win at nationally-ranked Wilkes.
