For leading his team to the NCAA semifinals in a record-setting year, Yale’s Mark Bolding has been chosen CCM/AHCA women’s Division I coach of the year.
This is the first such honor at the Division I Level for Bolding, a four-time coach of the year as a Division III head coach.
Bolding was named Yale’s new coach in April of 2019, and his first year with the Bulldogs was a memorable one. However, his second season was by far the best in the history of the program, and he was named 2021-22 ECAC Hockey coach of the year. Bolding is the first Yale coach to lead a women’s team to any NCAA “final four” event.
His 2021-22 squad broke the school record for wins (26), ECAC Hockey wins (16), shutouts (10), goals (122), short-handed goals (9) and more, while finishing second (Yale best) in the standings. The Bulldogs were ranked among the top 10 most of the season in both the PairWise and national polls. His second Yale team won the program’s first conference semifinal, hosted the ECAC Hockey championship weekend for the first time, and earned its first NCAA appearance.
Bolding took over as the 11th head coach in Yale women’s hockey history after building a Division III national powerhouse at his alma mater, Norwich, which captured national championships in 2011 and 2018.
Bolding was assisted this season by Grant Kimball, Erica Kromm and Mackenzie Bruch.
The runner-up for this year’s award was Ohio State’s Nadine Muzerall.
