Stevenson has announced the hire of Ben Halford as the next head coach of the Mustangs women’s hockey team.
Halford is no stranger to the MAC as he comes with experience from working most recently with Wilkes as an assistant coach for the past five years.
“We can’t be more excited to have Ben be part of our family here at Stevenson University. He did a great job of separating himself through the interview process with his energy and passion for the game,” said Stevenson associate athletic director Paul Cantabene in a statement. “We believe he’s going to be one of the best young coaches in the Middle Atlantic Conference in the near future. He’s a great teacher of the game and an even better person.”
“I am incredibly honored and excited at the opportunity to lead a new era of hockey at Stevenson,” added Halford. “It was clear from the beginning of this process that the university’s level of commitment to the Mustang hockey program is among the best in the nation. I would like to thank Matt Grimm, Paul Cantabene and the rest of the search committee for their professional, detailed approach. I cannot wait to get started working with our staff and student-athletes.”
Prior to Wilkes, Halford served a five-year stint at Penn State, working as an assistant coach for the women’s hockey team. While he was with the Nittany Lions, the team notched three regular-season CHA titles, two CHA playoff championships, and two NCAA tournament appearances for the first time in program history. He trained the first ever NWHL Draft pick from Penn State and trained the program’s top goaltenders to receive goalie of the year, all-conference accolades, and invitees of the USA High Performance Goaltender Camp.
Halford runs and is the founder of Accelerate Goaltending. The program offers training programs and campus across the United States, working with over 500 goaltenders. For the past six years, the program has been focusing on technique, game tactics, mental approach, and organizational development. The program has had five goaltenders play for Team USA in international competition.
Halford, a goaltender in his playing days, competed in the AHL, ECHL and SPHL following his collegiate career at Princeton, where he was part of the 2018 ECAC Hockey league champion team.
