Paul Pearl is an American

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

coach and former player. He was previously the associate head coach for

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

, having also served as head coach for Holy Cross for 19 seasons.

Career

Pearl began attending Holy Cross in 1985 and played for the Division II program for four years, becoming

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the team in his senior season. Pearl was also a four year letter winner of the Division I baseball team and captained the team his senior year. After graduating Pearl became director of the ice hockey program at

Portsmouth Abbey School Portsmouth Abbey School is a coeducational Benedictine boarding and day school for students in grades 9 to 12. Founded in 1926 by the English Benedictine community, the School is located on a 525-acre campus along Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay. ...

for two years before returning to college as an assistant at

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

under Bruce Marshall. In 1994 he was named as head coach for his alma mater. He became just the fifth head hockey coach for the Crusaders and would go on to lead his teams to 9 of the 11 most successful seasons in their history. Holy Cross became a founding member of the MAAC ice hockey conference in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

and Pearl helped the team celebrate by winning a then-team record 22 wins capped off by capturing the inaugural conference tournament. Unfortunately the MAAC did not possess an automatic bid for the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

tournament and Holy Cross was not invited despite its achievement. As they had done before Holy Cross won the premier conference tournament for the successor

Atlantic Hockey The Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) is an NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey conference which operates primarily in the northeastern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey-only conference. Unlike several other c ...

conference but this time were invited to the 2004 tournament. While Pearl's team was blanked by

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

their second berth two years later provided what is widely considered the biggest upset in college hockey history when the 15th seed Crusaders downed the second ranked

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and competes in the Big Te ...

4-3 in overtime. In addition to hockey, Pearl was also the head coach of the

Holy Cross Crusaders baseball : ''For information on all College of the Holy Cross sports, see Holy Cross Crusaders'' The Holy Cross Crusaders baseball team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. ...

team from 1999 to 2001. He coached the first two teams to ever make the post season tournament and was twice named Patriot League coach of the year. In 2014 Pearl resigned as head coach and took a position as the associate head coach with

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. In 2021, Pearl was named the Head Coach at

Cushing Academy Cushing Academy is a Private school, private, coeducational College preparatory, college-preparatory school for Boarding school, boarding and Day school, day students in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, United States. It serves approximately 400 student ...

, a preparatory school in Ashburnham, Massachusetts.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pearl, Paul Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American ice hockey coaches Holy Cross Crusaders baseball coaches Holy Cross Crusaders baseball players Holy Cross Crusaders men's ice hockey coaches Holy Cross Crusaders men's ice hockey players People from Winthrop, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Suffolk County, Massachusetts Ice hockey coaches from Massachusetts American men's ice hockey defensemen Portsmouth Abbey School alumni Ice hockey players from Massachusetts