Hobart College Head Hockey Coach Mark Taylor was named one of 11 finalists for the Edward Jeremiah Award, given annually to the College Division NCAA Division III Men’s Ice Hockey Coach of the Year.
The winner will be announced Thursday evening at the student-athlete banquet at the NCAA Division III Men’s Ice Hockey Championship in Lake Placid, N.Y.
For the sixth time in his career and second year in a row, Taylor was named the ECAC West Coach of the Year. He led the Statesmen to a 21-5-2 overall record and earned a spot in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals. It’s Hobart’s 14th consecutive winning season, and the team matched the program record for wins in a season. The Statesmen also registered Hobart single season records for goals against average (1.77) and save percentage (.939).
This year’s Statesmen began the season without nine graduated seniors and without the top three scorers from the 2014-15 season. The losses also included an All-American and the 2014-15 ECAC West Defensive Player of the Year. Then in January, the team would have to continue without senior Sean Rudy who had used the remainder of his eligibility to play during the first semester, while he completed the teacher education program. Rudy ranked third on the team with 11 points at the time. In addition, Taylor and the Statesmen had to overcome the loss of senior goalie Lino Chimienti for the month of January due to injury and then senior Ben Gamache was sidelined by an injury for the final four games of the regular season and the ECAC West tournament semifinal.
Despite all this, the Statesmen finished conference play with a 12-3-0 mark, clinching the ECAC West regular season title for the second year in a row and fourth time in program history. Hobart went on to defeat Neumann 3-0 and Utica 5-0 on its way to its fourth ECAC West tournament title. The Statesmen made their sixth NCAA tournament appearance and are currently ranked fourth in the nation in both the USCHO.com and D3hockey.com polls. Hobart was also the top-ranked team in the East Region in the final public NCAA rankings. The Statesmen finished the season ranked fourth in the nation on the penalty kill (89.8%), tied for fifth in scoring defense (1.86 ga/gm), tied for seventh in team winning percentage (.786), and eighth in scoring offense (3.81 g/gm).
Taylor has a 250-142-38 overall record, including two national semifinal appearances in 16 seasons at Hobart. He is just the fourth man to lead the Statesmen and has more wins than all of his predecessors combined. Taylor has mentored 49 All-ECAC West selections and 20 All-ECAC West Rookie Team selections. Four Statesmen have been named the ECAC West Player of the Year under Taylor’s leadership, while all nine of Hobart’s All-Americans have come during his tenure. Taylor’s charges have also excelled in the classroom, boasting 143 ECAC West All-Academic Team honorees.
