LOWELL, Mass. – UMass Lowell Ice Hockey Head Coach Norm Bazin has tabbed Eric Sorenson as his newest assistant coach, as announced on Thursday. Sorenson comes to Lowell after spending two years as an assistant hockey coach at Holy Cross.
“Eric was organized and very prepared for this process,” said Bazin. “Throughout our discussions, he came across as very intelligent and articulate. He is someone who has acquired a great deal of knowledge in his six years of coaching at the lower levels. He will work with our goaltenders and act as our recruiting coordinator. We welcome him and his wife Julia to the UMass Lowell hockey family.”
During his time on staff in Worcester, Sorenson focused specifically on skill development for the defensemen and goaltenders, in addition to managing the penalty kill unit. He helped amass the most single-season wins for the program since 2015-16 and capped off the 2022-23 season with an appearance in the Atlantic Hockey Championship for the first time since 2006. During his time at Holy Cross, he also helped the program reduce its conference goals allowed from 10th place to third, and improve its penalty kill performance to 17th in the country.
“I am extremely excited to join the hockey staff and community here at UMass Lowell,” commented Sorenson. “It is a tremendous opportunity to join a great group of coaches and players, and I look forward to helping build on the successes Coach Bazin and company have had here. I am grateful for this opportunity and eager to get to work.”
Before heading to Holy Cross, Sorenson spent time working with a pair of NCAA Division III institutions. He served as the first head coach at Rivier University, responsible for leading the launch of the young program in 2020. Prior to Rivier, he served as an assistant coach at Williams College from 2018-2020. There, he helped lead Williams to two NESCAC playoff appearances and a 2019-20 NESCAC regular-season championship. Sorenson has also made stops at Nazareth College and the Rochester Jr. Americans, as both the assistant and goaltending coach.
Throughout his eight-year coaching tenure, Sorenson has been responsible for a multitude of tasks, including pre-scouting of opponents, gameday lineup preparation, in-game adjustments and post-game analysis. He has also helped facilitate player skill development, resulting in 17 All-Conference players, one Rookie of the Year, a Conference Player of the Year and an All-American selection.
Having played college hockey at Western New England University from 2010-2014, Sorenson served as the team’s starting goaltender and holds the program records for career wins, saves and shutouts.
Sorenson earned his bachelor of science in business administration and sport management from Western New England in 2014. He went onto earn his masters in sport administration from Canisius in 2017.
(UMass Lowell Hockey Photo)
