Anna Maria names new Women’s Ice Hockey Coach
Mike Cox to lead AMCATS in inaugural season in 2018-19
PAXTON, Mass. – The Anna Maria College Athletic Department has announced that women's ice hockey will be added as a sport, beginning with the 2018-19 season, according to Director of Athletics Serge DeBari.
The AMCATS will play their home games at the New England Sports Center in Marlboro, Mass. DeBari also announced the hiring of Mike Cox as the first AMCATS head coach.
"Anna Maria College is excited to be expanding its Athletics offering with the addition of women's ice hockey," said DeBari. "The New England Sports Center is one of the premiere hockey facilities in New England. We are excited that Mike Cox will be leading our women's program. It is not often that a first-year program can attract a coach who has such an impressive personal and coaching resume. Beginning a new program is always challenging but certainly a challenge that Mike Cox has already proven he is capable of handling. "
Coach Cox comes to the Anna Maria campus with a wealth of hockey experience, having spent more than 25 years as collegiate and high school coach.
"I am honored and humbled to be selected the first coach of women's hockey at Anna Maria," said Cox. "From the outset, I was very impressed with the college's plan for launching a women's hockey program. This endeavor is going further the mission of this rich and vibrant Catholic institution while also giving more female hockey players a chance to play collegiately."
Cox most recently served as Salve Regina University's head women's coach from 2006-2014, and he is the program's all-time winningest coach. During his time in Newport, Cox helped transform a struggling Seahawk program into a perennial ECAC contender. During his eight seasons with the Seahawks, he amassed 101 victories, including a 16-7-4 mark in his final season, and scored playoff victories over Norwich, Manhattanville, Castleton, UMass Boston and Nichols.
Before the Seahawks, Cox served as an assistant at three Division I schools -- Boston College, Northeastern and Harvard, where he helped the Crimson capture a National Championship in 1999, with a 33-1 mark. Cox has coached four Olympians and four Patty Kazmaier Winners, an award given annually to the nation's top female hockey player. He has also coached eight All Americans, three Hockey Humanitarians, 10 members of the All Hockey East team, six members of the Hockey East All Rookie team, four members of the ECAC All Star Team and six members of the ECAC All Rookie Team. He has been on the AWCHA National Staff of the Year with Harvard in 1999 and the Hockey East Staff of the Year twice, with Northeastern in 2004 and Boston College in 2005.
Cox got his start in coaching with the Shrewsbury High School boys team, where he helped the team to a state finals appearance in 1997. Most recently he was head coach of the Medfield High School girls' team, where he posted a 29-10-5 record over two seasons and sent two players two USA Hockey's National Development Camp. Cox is a Level IV certified USA Hockey Coach and has served as an regional evaluator for USA Hockey's national camp. He played collegiately at Merrimack College, where he holds a bachelor's degree in English. He also holds a Master's degree in Sports Administration from Lasell College.
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Anna Maria College is a four-year, private, co-ed, Catholic, liberal arts college accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. Founded by the Sisters of Saint Anne in 1946, AMC is located on a 192-acre campus in Paxton, Mass., minutes from the vibrant college-town of Worcester. AMC provides quality programs that integrate liberal education and professional preparation that is committed to the fundamental value of liberal arts and sciences education rooted in the traditions of the Sisters of Saint Anne.
